


Mortal Man

by SnowconesJones



Category: Naruto
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Emotionally Repressed, F/M, Sharingan, eventual mangekyo sharingan, eventual rinnegan, learning to feel emotion, mild child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25506928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowconesJones/pseuds/SnowconesJones
Summary: Obito wasn't sure if he was doing this out of guilt, or out of desperation. In all likelihood, it was a mixture.Taking an infant Naruto and implanting a mixture of DNA into the young child was bound to cause a few ripples in the future of the Elemental Nations, that much was certain, but how far would these decisions go?Sharingan!Naruto, eventual Rinnegan!Naruto.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16





	1. Mortal Man

**Author's Note:**

> If this story may be familiar, it’s because I post on FF as well, and this story is one of the stories I am adapting onto AO3, so it is what it is. Anyways, if Sharingan!Naruto and eventual Rinnegan!Naruto bother you, then turn away now, just a fair warning.
> 
> And I know stories with Sharingan/Rinnegan Naruto tend to wank him to the high heavens, which automatically turns a LOT of people off, so I’m not too particularly bothered by any hate that will potentially be thrown my way, I’m okay with it. This is a story for me, and the story I want to publish, first and foremost, anyone who reads along the way will read.

Over the frostbitten glow of the dead of night, a lone baby was resting peacefully. Konohagakure lay in ruin, the once mighty village devastated by the force of a raging demon. Standing beside the isolated infant, two figures, one human and one not, peered with a hidden curiosity.

“What do you make of this, Zetsu?” The taller of the two figures, having spoken, glanced worriedly out of the hospital window.

A soft silence amidst the chaos outside slowly spread.

“It has been approximately seven hours since Minato’s death. We can leave a clone of mine here and take the child back for procedures.” The now named Zetsu spoke calmly.

“No, I meant with… it doesn’t matter. We leave in twenty. Sooner, if you sense a nurse approaching. I need to take a quick detour for _her_.”

Zetsu snorted in disgust. “Hurry, Obito. We don’t have much time.”

“I know, I know. Just… watch the damn baby, okay?” With that sentiment voiced, Obito left, seemingly floating into the chilly air. Zetsu, or at least what looked to be his black side, rolled a single eye.

Zetsu calmly looked over at the wailing baby, the rosy cheeks of the infant hinting at how cold the air around them was. He didn’t care much for anything, much less a human child, but he would obey his commands.

For now.

Was Obito’s decision justified? Maybe, probably not. Did Namikaze Minato need to die? Also, probably not.

Why were they there? Besides the baby? Who knew at this point?

Their plan was… well, it was downright moronic, yes, but Zetsu was playing his part in all of this, ‘faithfully’ obeying Obito and his little commands here and there. Acting like the obedient slave that the Uchiha thought he was.

It was laughable, really.

Regardless, Zetsu sighed a great sigh, and seeing that his time here was coming to a rather abrupt ending, he walked a hesitant walk. Picking up the Forlorn, it was certain to him that Obito was off his medications, figuratively speaking.

Now, if that was a good thing or not, he would find out, and judging from past experiences, it was a mixture of both. Oh well, some would say.

Hovering through the broken window, Obito gave a silent but deafening nod towards Zetsu. Returning the gesture, Zetsu handed the baby to his partner, a mutual sentiment shared between them. Sweeping his onyx hair to the side, he was sure that this plan was going to fail. Absolutely confident that it was going to go awry. No doubt that this scheme would fall through.

Why even bother, he thought, if this has no chance in hell of ever working. The casual opening of his fractured emotions that this homecoming had brought him was enough to force him into a premature retirement. Unfortunately, this homecoming trip wasn’t meant for him.

Shrugging his shoulders in such a manner that only the closest of both friends and enemies could understand, Obito dissipated at once, returning to his dwelling, leaving a meticulous Zetsu covering up their tracks.

* * *

“Obito… why have you disturbed me?”

Looking at the woman solidly, Obito didn’t waver in the slightest. “I took the liberty of taking an asset for the Akatsuki. If that is a problem, well, you better get used to this asset, because he is not leaving.”

Raising an eyebrow, Konan glanced down at the infant. “I don’t see how a child can possibly help us in taking Madara down.”

“This baby isn’t any baby, it’s the offspring of the _late_ Minato Namikaze.”

“I still don’t see how this helps.”

Shivering slightly at the cool air whipping against him, Obito marched over to Konan and stuck out Naruto. Hesitating to accept the proposal, she glanced up, her silent question being quickly answered.

“Just trust me. I need to show you something.”

With that, Obito was gone, the shadow that once occupied his feet leaving as well. After a pregnant moment, he had returned, clutching a yellow and orange notebook. Flipping a few pages, he began.

“Studies have shown that after being born, a baby’s chakra pathways and nodes develop continuously for about three months, and at the three-month mark, they are finished developing and are fully mature, give or take. The process could take longer or shorter, depending on the amount of chakra a baby is born with.”

“This is elementary, Obito. Why are you-”

“Let me finish! While it may be finished developing, a chakra pathway will grow and expand accordingly with the original body, which allows shinobi to expand their chakra reserves indefinitely. And because a chakra pathway is continuously adapting, this can lead to individual chakra identities, and in very, _very_ rare situations, chakra mutations. Now, what do you know about _kekkei genkai?_ ”

Konan shifted her stance just a fraction, a momentary sliver of curiosity reaching her eyelids. “Well, kekkei genkai are genetic mutations that affect how chakra forms. While normally happening at birth, the formation of kekkei genkai can take place at any stage of life, naturally or artificially.”

“Artificially, key word. The Uchiha? We are naturally blessed with our kekkei genkai, so ingrained in our culture that we pay no attention to how simple, yes effective, of an advantage it gives us.”

He pointed at the baby, and pointed at himself.

“Your big plan is to give an orphan the Sharingan?”

Obito frowned, his face scrunching together in thought. When she put it like that…

“Madara was one of the strongest shinobi to exist in this world – in history. As it stands, the three of us stand no chance. This child has the strongest of the tailed-beast inside of him, correct? If we give this kid the Sharingan, on top of training, imagine how strong he’ll be when he grows up.”

An exasperated sigh was his only reply.

“That sounds, quite frankly, idiotic, and not worth our time _or_ our investments – or resources, for that matter.”

And it was absolutely true, in every sense of what she was saying. This was a stupid idea, and one that wasn’t even guaranteed to work. The risks of dying were too high, and there were plenty of options to work around that didn’t border on near death.

And yet, she still had one question lingering in the recesses of her mind.

“Are you trying to make up for killing your sensei and his wife?”

And there it was.

She couldn’t see it, but she certainly felt the tonal shift in the room, the immediate air of tension, the spike in adrenaline that was pouring out from him. And before she could even flinch a muscle, it was reigned in, locked and chained away back in his heart.

“Whatever my reasoning is, it stands to reason that I believe this is the best move for – for us.” Obito finished rather lamely.

Sometimes she forgot that the S-Rank in front of her was still only a child, in essence.

Another sigh was given by her. “Do what you must.”

Obito nodded, and turned away to walk, but one last thought kept him from moving, so he turned back to face her.

“Can I assume you’ll be helping me train him?”

The indignant sputter was her first in years.

* * *

Naruto never quite learned what it meant to be a kid.

He was four the first time he was struck for misunderstanding one of his master’s lessons.

Things were tough, and he couldn’t figure out the difference between a bloodline technique and a clan secret technique, and it was frustrating Obito to no end.

If trying his best to teach wasn’t producing many results, especially before having to send Naruto back to Konoha, then maybe a different method of approach would be necessary.

Without thinking – or perhaps, wanting to pretend he didn’t do it intentionally – his hand struck out, smacking the boy across the face and sending him tumbling to the ground.

The boy looked up at him, fearfully, tears threatening to spill over, and Obito’s eye widened just a fraction, and he clumsily helped the boy up. Dusting Naruto off lightly, he turned away to hide his shame, even if the boy couldn’t see it or grasp it.

“We are done for today, go wash yourself and be prepared for taijutsu tomorrow.”

It wouldn’t be the last time he was struck, either.

* * *

Emotions, soon enough, were beaten out of Naruto.

First it was sadness, which would result in punishment. He was okay with that; he didn’t like feeling sad in the first place. He much preferred to be happy with himself.

Then it was anger, and after a while, no matter how much Obito taunted or egged him on, he was fine, not showing any outwards emotion, keeping his rage bottled inside and under control. Not lost, just bottled up.

And finally, his happiness, was gone as well.

And Naruto stopped smiling to himself by the age of six.

* * *

It was perhaps the biggest thing that worried Obito, bar the obvious hanging over his head.

He was incredibly awkward, and his personality was like a mold, in a weird, uncomfortable way. It was privy to change at any moment. Whoever or whatever the situation called for; Naruto was already there – different.

While he was only a kid, and kids were still forming their own identities, this kid in particular was much too different to actually pass as a child.

One moment, Naruto was a polite, obedient child, afraid to let even a peep come from his mouth, and the next he was confidently sparring against his black-haired master, even if for a moment before he struck him on the side of his neck and incapacitated him.

In essence, his personality fluctuated too much for Obito’s liking or comfort.

He tried to fit in wherever he went, and that wasn’t something that would work if they wanted this blond-haired brat to defeat one of the strongest shinobi in existence.

When Obito would sit down with Naruto and teach him the basics of wind jutsu, and how to apply them in live combat, there was no warmth in those big bulbous blue eyes, no excitement or childlike wonder at the world.

There was only… indifference.

No – that wasn’t quite right either.

It was as if Naruto felt he wasn’t allowed to be excited anymore, as if he wasn’t proper and prim when showing emotion besides reserved, calculating perception of the world around him.

Undoubtedly, this would have to be properly broken before sending the human sacrifice back to Konoha. Sooner or later, someone would figure out the little charade and start asking – or pushing – into the corners of his mind, and all would be forgotten.

Obito beckoned the boy to him, and the boy obeyed without a word.

Obito motioned for the boy to sit, and the boy sat.

“Naruto,” the Uchiha said, his eye peering. “how are you feeling today?”

A few moments of silence passed before anything else could happen. The two of them stared at one another, black eye challenging blue eyes in return.

Not once during his training, had Naruto been asked how he was feeling. Or any questions regarding his wellness, besides “can you stand?”

“I am… adequate.” Naruto said after a moment, and Obito had to stop himself from cursing under his mask.

No child under the age of 10 talked like that, much less a six – or was it seven? – year old.

“You mean okay.” It wasn’t a question.

Naruto blinked after a moment.

“Look, boy, we have to change a few things,” the Uchiha continued. “you are going to be sent back to Konoha soon.”

“Yes.”

“You are still very young, as well.”

“I know.”

Obito bit back an annoyed growl.

“We are going to be reforming your ways of speaking.” He continued, gauging Naruto on his reaction, and of course, not much to speak of in that regard.

Idly, he took note of Konan’s chakra forming in the background, and paid no attention to it. She already knew of his intentions, and she would be helping.

Naruto pondered his words for a moment, eyes calm. Calculating. At ease, and yet on guard at the same time. It wasn’t something he ever really thought about, how he talked and what he said and how he said it – it was something he just _did._ His two masters never seemed to pay any mind to his vernacular.

“Why?” He finally decided on.

“Children don’t speak how you do, and if you want to make friends and blend in, you need to establish a different dialect, a different code.”

He wasn’t so sure what that meant.

“You are too cold, boy. Starting tomorrow, we are changing how you speak, are we clear?”

Naruto could only nod.

* * *

Three months had passed since that day. Naruto, almost age seven, was ready for the Academy. After about two months, he had replaced the Zetsu clone and was starting to get accustomed to how life in Konohagakure was. It was a foreign experience, to say the least.

Along with living alone with no guidance, a man with gray hair would occasionally pop in to check on him, citing the biweekly visits as “Orders from the Hokage himself.” The invasions weren’t so bad, at least. Along with a stipend being given to him with every second session, Naruto was also given a basket of fruit and vegetables, courtesy of the man in charge himself.

The vegetables were a much-welcomed alternative to the mush that Obito would feed him back at the camp. While he knew the mush provided many, _many_ benefits, to which most he didn’t know of, the vegetables were more filling and tastier, and Naruto found himself eternally grateful.

Of course, even though Naruto was not at permanent residence of the camp, his training with Obito was not halted. He would send pieces of paper for him, the paper often times having his training schedule written on it.

He would follow these loyally.

It was unhealthy. His body was something disgusting, something revolting, something _dangerous_. No child should ever have to deal with the forced acceleration of their body like that. Constant growing pains, shaky breathing at times, and the ever-present dull aching of his very bones and core.

A terrible fate indeed.

The only sound that could drag him out of his repeated daydreaming was the insistent knocking on his door. Like now.

Kakashi walked in once he got confirmation from the resident. Hauling the basket of edibles into the apartment, he whistled at the sight. It was bare, much too bare for anyone half-sane to live in. Of course, with the stipends the boy received, he didn’t blame him.

A bookshelf stood in the corner; the wood dyed a deep blue. It was sparsely filled out, with a few books here and there. Otherwise, it was void. Directly under him was a black rug, with two love seats and a simple lamp resting easily on the rug. He interestingly noted the lack of a television set.

A layer of dust was on most of the objects.

“Hey Naruto. How are you doing?”

Taking out a few containers of spices, Naruto glanced over at the older of the two. “I’m okay. Would you like to stay for some spaghetti? It is almost finished.”

Kakashi thought about it. And shrugged. It was roughly dusk, and he had no plans, so why not? And besides, he was interested in how his master’s son was handling himself. Taking a seat by the window, Kakashi patiently read his novel while Naruto hummed away.

“Need any help?”

“No thank you, sir, I’m – fine.”

Kakashi couldn’t help but grimace at what Naruto had said, and he of course noted the brief, but noticeable pause before he said fine. It was as if he was questioning his own words.

He shoved that to the back of his mind, and changed his thoughts.

It was honestly amazing that a six-year-old could cook like this. Of course, Naruto _had_ asked for some recipe books for his sixth birthday, and with how accelerated his literacy and worth ethic were, due to help from both Kakashi – and Yugao, who would occasionally fill in for him if he was out on a mission – he couldn’t be too surprised.

Naruto was incredibly efficient. He kept to himself, he didn’t bother those around him, and he was extremely polite and easy to work with. As if the gods themselves had blessed the Nation with another prodigy, this boy was the perfect candidate for being the next legendary shinobi.

Unfortunately, that didn’t come without its drawbacks.

Naruto was socially introverted. Besides himself, Yugao, and Hiruzen, it was a constant struggle just to get Naruto to even communicate with other people. If he didn’t know you, it would be a nightmare just for him to even reveal a single detail about himself.

He wasn’t a robot like the ROOT operatives, he was just a little awkward at times. Not for lack of effort, however, as Naruto would try his best to fit in whenever given the chance, but he just can’t catch onto a flow for conversation like any of his peers.

Sliding a string of noodles onto a plate, Naruto handed his pseudo caretaker the food and fixed his own meal. It was a simple dish, spaghetti with beef and flavored with garlic, but nonetheless, Kakashi enjoyed it for what it was. It wasn’t the _best_ meal he had ever ate, but it was delicious for something a six-year-old could make.

“Are you excited for the Academy?”

“Meh. I don’t have anyone to play with, nor do I have… parents. It will be a fun way to pass time.”

That was the other thing that bugged Kakashi. His vernacular. He wasn’t surprised, as mentioned why before, but it was unnatural to hear a child speak in such an advanced way. It pained him in the same way it would pain a mother to see her baby boy become independent.

He decided to change the subject. “Have any idea about what study you want to focus on?”

Naruto gulped some water. “Ninjutsu, preferably.” He failed to elaborate on that.

Kakashi, as well, wasn’t one to talk more than he felt necessary.

“Well, orientation is next week. To be enrolled into the Academy, you need a p- guardian,” Kakashi caught his slip up. “and Lord Third will act as your guardian.”

“Why?”

“He is technically your adoptive guardian.”

“So, I can serve my village?”

It was an odd way to phrase it – and an odd mentality as well.

Kakashi nodded dumbly.

“I see. Well, I hope to be shinobi one day, just like you, sir.”

It was an innocent comment, nothing harmful or hurtful intended, but regardless, it had an undesired result. A quite nasty one.

“Naruto, listen to me, and listen to me well. I am not someone who you want to be. I’m a monster, and I have done some truly awful things in my time. I don’t want you to have to go through the same things I went through.”

Was what he wanted to say, so damn badly. Instead, Kakashi remained silent, his words choking and dying in his throat, and giving a polite goodbye, he left, leaving Naruto once again, alone.

* * *

“I can’t do it.” The phrase had hardly any _feel_ behind it, but to the trained ear of the jovial Third, it was akin to a nasty cry for help. It pained him to hear a child sound like that. While he wasn’t particularly close to Naruto, he at least had sympathy for the boy.

“Relax my boy, everything will be fine.” Hiruzen Sarutobi was the third Fire Shadow that Konohagakure had produced, and arguably, the best they have had so far. He was _the_ ninja that Hidden Leaf soldiers modeled themselves after, he was practically a god among mortals.

The two of them, Hiruzen and Naruto, were inside Naruto’s apartment. It was the day of the orientation, and they had another hour and a half to kill before they had to get to the Academy.

“Naruto, I’m making your favorite dish, garlic seasoned salmon. You better wash up before I finish.”

Naruto paused. “With no onions?” he whispered, as if he was afraid of what he was saying.

Hiruzen suppressed a giggle at the young boy, misunderstanding the emotion. “Yes, my boy, with no onions. Now run along!”

Naruto disappeared into the back woods of his apartment, intent on washing his hands for his grandfather- _figure_. Unfortunately, not his actual grandfather.

Looking into the mirror of his cave, he whimpered softly. Who even was he, in the eyes of the village? All of his life he thought himself an orphan, but something didn’t make sense here. He was hand-picked by his master for training, and while he was grateful, that could be passed off as luck of the draw.

Once you include the Third Hokage into the mix, well… not much coincidence anymore.

Did he have friends? He had the Cat-Masked woman and Kakashi, he presumed.

He couldn’t really consider Obito (and Konan, whenever she rarely popped up) friends. They were his teachers, and outside of the help they (and by extension the rest of the Akatsuki, even if the rest of the Akatsuki were unaware of his existence) loaned to him, they couldn’t honestly say they cared much for him.

Yeah sure, he was strong, he had been trained since birth and he was approaching what a novice genin would be after graduating, but it wasn’t enough to them. They wanted him to be a monster.

A heartless, emotionless _monster_.

Walking back to the foyer, the aroma of salmon enticed him to hurry up and sit down. Grabbing the plate from the shadow himself, Naruto ate the fish without a second thought.

Hiruzen grinned with a fatherly pride, but it was forced. He couldn’t smile, not now. Not with everything going on in the world, much less inside the heart of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto didn’t deserve to have a decrepit old man, a teenage girl, and a PTSD-ridden alcoholic as his three caretakers. It just wasn’t fair.

And besides, even ignoring the current moment.

The Uchiha were getting… testy, if he were being polite about the situation. In reality, he would say it was far, _far_ more complicated.

His next in line was Shisui Uchiha, a prodigious warrior who could fight with the best of the very best. He was an S-Ranked animal, a demon on the battlefield who slaughtered anyone who dared to cross paths with the colossus from the Uchiha.

Hiruzen knew both Shisui and Itachi Uchiha had unyielding loyalty to the village, and would sacrifice their very souls if it meant protecting the home that they loved. And, while he hoped it wouldn’t have to go to those lengths, it also might mean that they would have to commit atrocities unheard of.

Sliding the plate to lay in front of his surrogate grandson, the two of them ate in silence. A million questions were flying through his head, yet he couldn’t dare mutter a single of them.

He was too fucking old for this job.

* * *

“How is he doing?”

The doctor paused, not quite sure of the answer himself.

“The only permanent damage he will have is the forced removal of his right eye, but other than that, he has sustained chakra exhaustion and shows signs of a concussion. Otherwise, he is fine.” Physically fine, that is.

“Well, how did his condition form?”

“Classified, orders from the ‘kage himself. I will say it involves the _incident_ the other night. Other than that, I am not legally allowed to say.” A half-truth.

“Will he recover soon?”

Silence.

“I don’t know.”

* * *

Naruto walked into his classroom, and the first thing he saw was the sight of one Sasuke Uchiha, which was rather odd, considering just two days ago, the boy was in a coma.

Of course, all the kids were crowding around the boy, saying their apologies, their condolences, how horrible it must be, how their parents all pass on their sympathy, if he ever needs anything, yada yada yada. It was all the same, honestly.

Sasuke’s face was puffy, red and swollen, no doubt from the tears that would push him through his day. Before the incident, he was a quiet, but caring, child, and there were a few times Sasuke tried to spark a friendship with Naruto, but sooner or later, he got the message, and so…

They never really talked, besides the occasional greeting, and Naruto wasn’t about to change that pattern, so ignoring the sulking child, he took his seat in the top row of the classroom, watching from a far as his classmates conversed and offered their newfound sympathy and worry for the Uchiha.

The Uchiha was alone in this world, even perhaps, more alone than the Uzumaki.

Class had started, and while he attempted to take notes, he couldn’t help but be distracted by the young Uchiha, and there were a few times where Sasuke’s grieving eyes caught Naruto’s curious ones in return, and there was a mutual understanding between them. It was silent, and no words or movements besides their eyes meeting, but the connection was there.

It was crazy, having someone who knew what loneliness felt like. What having a perpetual darkness felt like. What having a living nightmare felt like. What having a personal hell felt like.

He could relate with the other. He could actually relate with another person. The very idea of being able to relate to someone was laughable, absolutely crazy.

And yet, he was comforted by it. Enthralled, some would say.

Maybe he could be a potential ally, and not just a fellow Leaf shinobi?

He could only hope.


	2. Team 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tales of old legends and the beginnings of new

**-2-**

* * *

The myths and folklore behind clans were often considered, by most rational adults, to be nothing more than fairy tales and propaganda.

Everyone had heard the tales about Hashirama defeating twenty of the strongest ninjas in the world at once, or about how Madara took over an entire empire at the age of 15, but whether it be the sands of time shifting away, or the smoke and hellfire erupting around the world, seemingly any record of such events would be, eventually, nothing more than bedtime stories passed down generation to generation.

Hell, even one story involved Tobirama Senju splitting an entire ocean with the wave of his hand!

The Uchiha were prideful. They wouldn’t deny it – in fact, they would revel in such a boast, soak in it, and spread their grand tales of excellence to anyone who would listen.

In front of him, his youngest son, Sasuke, was sitting, eyes wide with wonder, as he jittered back and forth on the wooden tiling of the dojo floor, listening with awe as the story of Izuna Uchiha was spun for him.

“Everyone knew about Uchiha Madara,” Fugaku started, his voice, while respectful, had a tone of dismissal laced in. “founder of our noble clan, our strongest historically, but his brother is the clansmen I admire the most, Sasuke.”

Sasuke nodded his head excitedly, Fugaku biting back a grin at seeing his youngest son so entertained.

“While Izuna died much too young, his legacy lived on within our clan’s walls. He was the second Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan,” at this statement, Sasuke’s eyes widened even further, having heard stories about how powerful and almighty the rare dōjutsu could be when used in the right hands. “and could capture the blessings of the sun goddess, Amaterasu!”

The cool sliding of the door was heard, and Fugaku glanced up and saw his wife standing there, her own scowl on her face, and he merely raised his hand up, motioning for a little more time.

She shook her head, exasperation setting into her slender facial features, and closed the door again.

“Not too many could stand in his way, armed with the blessings of our goddess and our Sharingan, but he was also rumored to have the blessing of another god.”

“Who was it, daddy, who!” The bouncing of his feet did little to stop him from overflowing with excitement, and his father laughed to himself, a gentle reminder that even in grimmer times, nothing wasn’t as bleak as he saw it sometimes.

“Many stories have different details and viewpoints, but my own mother said her own _grandmother_ saw the storm god Susanoo hail from the heavens above and fight Izuna Uchiha, their duel lasting nearly three days, before finally, having been so impressed with the strength of a mortal, the deity blessed Uchiha Izuna with a set of armor, decorated in white and blue, giving him the power to temper and command the seas and the storms to his own will.”

If Fugaku was pressured for an honest answer? He simply thought the armor was former clan armor during the Feuding Clan eras, and was used by Izuna, a well-known Lightning release to his brother’s Fire release, leading to the legend of how he was so adept at wielding lightning.

But a little story wouldn’t hurt, right?

His little boy – although he’d never say those words out loud – deserved to be happy, even if he wasn’t always open to his child.

And so, he answered all of Sasuke’s questions with a sly smirk, before his wife interrupted a second time, and he got up to walk to another clan meeting.

His son tugged at the bottom of his shirt, and he glanced down, peering into his son’s big bright eyes.

“I’m proud of you, son. Never forget that, okay?”

And Sasuke never would.

* * *

The very next day, bounding to the academy and being escorted by his older brother, he couldn’t _wait_ to talk about this with all of his classmates!

“So, you and father had a good talk yesterday?” Itachi asked as they passed by a sweets store. Sasuke nodded feverishly and there was a light in his eye that the older brother had never seen before.

“We sure did! Dad told me about Izun-Iza-Izumi-” Itachi stiffened ever so slightly, but his brother didn’t notice.

“Izuna.”

“Yeah, Izuna Uchiha! He was so strong, even stronger than Madara!”

Itachi snorted at this.

“Say, Itachi, why weren’t you there?” Sasuke asked after a moment of silence. They continued walking.

“I’m very busy, Sasuke, you know this.” Was what he eventually replied with, and despite his best efforts to hide it, the younger of the two frowned deeply and kicked a pebble.

“That’s what you always say! I miss seeing the fireflies with you.” He grumbled childishly, his eyes and lips pouty and his arms crossed intently, focused on not letting his older brother hold his hand on the way.

A few civilians saw the mild temper tantrum and shared a sympathetic look with the prodigious Uchiha, only somewhat aware of how many new responsibilities he had, instead more aware of what it’s like to deal with a grumpy brat.

Itachi took a few more steps and finally gave a quiet sigh. “I’m sorry, but father has tasked me with many different steps to ensure my place in Konoha.”

That answer wasn’t satisfactory for Sasuke. In fact, it made him sigh in a rather dramatic fashion, shaking his head.

“But you are already respected a butt ton, I hear my teachers talk about you all the time, and they always talk about how strong you are!”

Another sigh, albeit this one silent.

“You’d be surprised.”

The Academy came into view, and blinked owlishly at the comment, surprise etched on his face, but he decided not to ask another question.

Itachi walked him near, and turned his little brother to face him, and tapped his forehead with two fingers. “How about we see the fireflies this Friday, after we get some ice cream when you get done with school, okay? I promise.”

Sasuke beamed at this, and gave his brother a big hug, digging his little head into Itachi’s side thigh. “Fank you big bwother!” the muffled voice said, causing Itachi to give a sincere smile, and letting go of his beloved big brother, he bound off for the Academy.

Reaching the training ground where many of the younger students ran around and played before their sessions started, Sasuke joined them and started playing ninja with his friends, laughing and giggling with those around him.

They played and played, scuffing their pants and shorts and getting small cuts and bruises on the dirt paths created over years of previous exercise, but they paid no attention to that, instead focused on enjoying the moment they were in.

Eventually, all of the children were crowded around as Sasuke told them – or did his best, anyways – the story of how Izuna used his storm-tamer armor to command the high seas and fight the Senju in their own environments.

He continued on and on, answering any questions and exaggerating all of his answers with no shame, until he couldn’t anymore, satisfied with how amazed he left his friends.

Until he saw a mop of blond-hair overlooking the scene from the shade of a tree.

Uzumaki Naruto – if he was remembering the name correctly – was always quite the loner, if he was being honest, and no matter how many times he tried to talk with the boy, it never got far.

It wasn’t as if the other boy was rude, the conversation just fizzled out until there was none to be had.

Regardless, Sasuke would try once more, so he ran up to the boy.

“Hello!”

The blond boy merely remained stationary. “Hi, Sasuke.”

An awkward silence settled in. “Do you want to hear about my clan’s most famous armor?”

Naruto scrunched his brows for a moment, as if that question was the most challenging he had ever been posed with, before he eventually nodded, with a rather jagged looking smile, as if it pained him to even shift his mouth in such a way that wasn’t a neutral gaze.

And so, Sasuke continued his story again, making sure to add little details here and there.

For the most part, Naruto seemed intrigued by the story.

When Sasuke was done telling the grand epic of battle and conquest, the boy merely narrowed his eyes and glanced away, his gaze unreadable.

He was never sure what went on within the Uzumaki’s brain, whether that be unknown desires or even what he wanted to eat that day, as the boy was more than content with simple apples for every single break, lunch, and afternoon snack – not that Sasuke ever followed him to check what he did for himself – but regardless, it was always the same.

Suddenly, Naruto turned his head back, his eyes shining with knowing.

Sasuke had a glimmer of hope.

“That story was very cute!”

And just like that, he could hear the glass shatter as he froze in place.

“Cute?”

“Yes, that story, it was very cute! I liked the part where the storm kami descended himself!”

Sasuke grimaced – at least he was paying attention – and shifted into a scowl.

“It wasn’t ‘cute’, it was cool!”

Naruto tilted his head. “Is there something wrong with being cute?”

Not _technically_ , but to describe something as heroic as ‘cute’ was doing his clan a disservice.

“That- that’s too girly! It was cool, not cute!”

He nodded in understanding. ‘Cute’ isn’t always a good word, Naruto had learned and noted mentally.

“Okay, my apologies Sasuke, it was very cool! Especially when the storm kami descended himself!”

He had already said that.

It didn’t matter at this point, Sasuke was done with this conversation.

“Whatever, I think you’re weird!”

And with that, Sasuke walked off, not noticing the brief flash of hurt on the blonde’s face.

They never did quite grow any closer, not even until years later.

* * *

The continuous chirping of the baby swallows was starting to grind on him. Rapping his knuckles against the wooden table, and with the impatient kick of his heel, Naruto was starting to wonder if he had enough power to murder a jounin.

Maybe it was just the general feeling of being disrespected, or maybe it was just pent up aggression and energy being wound up inside of him, but he was almost sure the feeling wasn’t exclusive to him.

Looking at his fellow teammates, he could guess that they, or at least Sasuke above all else, were growing mildly agitated. It was justified, of course, as they had been waiting for at least an hour already for their sensei to show his coward face.

Sasuke had been in, what appeared to him as, the exact same position as he had been this morning. Both hands clasped in front of his face, a seemingly permanent scowl draped on his head, with a glare so fierce it would pierce through the heavens.

Naruto was amused – or his equivalent of the emotion. The boy was about as antisocial as himself, yet deep down he knew the both of them relied on each other, in a sense. They were each other’s check – they rarely talked still, but now there was a sense of mutual respect, of mutual understanding. Naruto wasn’t completely locked out of Sasuke’s life, and Sasuke wasn’t locked out of Naruto’s.

Of course, he knew it was because Sasuke found him to be the only competent shinobi in what was essentially the entire building. But of course, Sasuke thought of him to be inferior to himself, which came as no surprise.

Naruto knew that was false. Not false as in he believed it to be false, but false as in it was objectively miles away from the truth. If he had to be honest with himself, defeating Sasuke would be relatively easy.

There was no need to be antagonistic towards Sasuke. No real reason to intentionally harm his new teammate in a fight. Sooner or later, it would be known.

Turning towards the most social of the three, Naruto held no real strong opinion, one way or the other.

Sakura Haruno was simultaneously the most normal of the three, and the oddest of the three. She was a social bunny, so to speak, and wanted to be friends with almost anything that had a pulse.

She was probably the best equipped of them for fine precision chakra work, such as medical ninjutsu and genjutsu, but other than those aspects, she was, as much as he wanted a proper teammate, she was a liability.

She had the book smarts and the control, but lacked other qualities, such as battle instinct and physical strength. She could do everything as instructed, but Naruto had a feeling that once it came to actual combat, she would fold harder than a piece of Konan’s origami.

Kind of worked out, in Naruto’s mind anyways, as Sasuke had battle instinct and battle smarts, Sakura had the book smarts and control, and Naruto was a weird fusion of everything a ninja should be.

He may not have been as potent at ninjutsu as Sasuke, or smart enough to know the velocity of a kunai like Sakura, but he was the most well rounded out of the three of them. He was physically gifted, had a metric ton of chakra, and had, as described by Iruka a few times, ‘savage battle instinct”.

Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Sakura twisted her head to see what was causing the hair on her neck to stand at attention. She knew it could be only one of two people, and the person she wanted attention from the most almost never granted her what she wanted.

“Hey, Naruto, is it?” Sakura asked with a genuine smile.

“Yes.”

The chirping continued.

“Are you excited to meet our new sensei?”

“If he’s always going to be this late, then not really.” He decided to not mention he knew who Kakashi was.

Sakura didn’t follow up with this and turned her attention to Sasuke. “How about you, Sasuke, are you excited?”

The only reply she got back was an annoyed grunt.

Shrugging to himself, Naruto turned back to the window, listening to the peaceful chirps, alone in his thoughts. No further words were spoken between the trio, the awkward tension filling the air with no remorse.

After a few more minutes, Naruto silently twisted his head towards the classroom door, picking up on a familiar chakra personality heading towards them. He mentally sighed; looks like it was finally going to happen.

The door opened, and the other two looked on impatiently. “Hello. I offer my sincerest apology for being late, a black cat crossed my right path and the left was under construction.”

Kakashi looked on at the three hopefuls in front of him. Two orphans and a green. A charming group of kids to put the future of Konoha onto.

“You all seem boring. Meet me on the roof, five minutes.” And with that, he seemingly dissipated into a white smoke, no evidence provided that he once stood in front of them.

He gave no impression that he was annoyed or even surprised, but only a sigh. Rising out of his seat with a hop, Naruto beckoned the two others to follow him towards the roof, his knuckles lightly grazing the rusted safety railing.

Pushing on the safety door, it was bolted shut from the other side, and with a few hard knocks, Kakashi sheepishly opened the door. “Sorry about that, I tend to forget they bolt this shut.”

“If it’s an emergency exit, how are they supposed to leave if it’s locked from the outside?” Sakura asked after a moment.

“Who said it was an emergency exit?”

Sakura merely narrowed her eyes, and if the shaking of her head was any indication, she was perplexed at the purpose of the lock bolt, or even why it was there in the first place. Regardless, Naruto walked through, and Sasuke, followed by Sakura, followed him through the doorway, the both of them sitting on various figures on the rooftop, waiting patiently for their teacher to continue.

Kakashi took a seat in front of them. “Hello my cute little genin, how are we all feeling today?”

Sakura looked slightly dazed, thoughts of confusion on her mind. This wasn’t what she was expecting at all. “I’m… good?”

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. “Are you asking me or telling me, Sakura?”

She gulped nervously, then her eyebrows shot up. “Wait-” she sputtered after a moment. “you know my name!” Sakura pointed a shaky finger at him, and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto, as well, was slightly confused – at Sakura, not at Kakashi, at least.

If the older jounin was disappointed or sad, he didn’t let it show on his face, and instead his eye twinkled with humor. “Well, Sakura, Lord Third did give me a copy of my students, so I wasn’t _as_ woefully unprepared as you might have thought I would be.” He clapped his hands once when her face lit up like a tomato, drawing her attention back.

“I kid, of course. Don’t be ashamed.”

He waved off her concern and glanced at his other two students. “You two balls of sunshine, how about you?”

Sasuke huffed at the slight tease, while Naruto blinked owlishly. Even after all these years, he still has a hard time with friendly jokes.

Kakashi hoped that this team would help break him out of this vice grip, out of his weird behavior, or at least, teach him what it meant to be a kid. He wasn’t sure of it, but the jounin felt like _something_ happened to Naruto in his youth and changed him permanently, but no matter how much he shadowed his future student, or checked on where he was at or what he was doing, nothing seemed to point at anything being traumatizing or life-altering.

The kid was just…

Different.

Sooner or later, Kakashi would help him, one way or another.

Sasuke took note that Naruto wouldn’t be talking, at least not yet, and coughed slightly to draw his sensei’s attention back. The jounin nodded jovially, relaxing slightly into his seat, and motioned for Sasuke to continue.

“Personally, I could be doing better, but I could be doing worse.”

Kakashi held back a snort. “Join the club, Sasuke.”

The boy merely rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. That was that, apparently.

Kakashi turned his sharp gaze over to the blond of the group, and both of his other students couldn’t help but let their eyes linger on the boy, also curious about him.

Before Naruto could answer, he thought about what he wanted to say, how he wanted to say it, and why he wanted to say it. Obito didn’t want him to get into the habit of wasting words, or giving away too much information to the wrong people.

He pondered his words carefully.

Even when trying to fit in, he couldn’t do it at the academy. It felt awkward – forced, and that meant no kids wanted to be his friend.

And that was fine, honestly. He knew that he was different, and he knew the kids were also aware of that, even if they didn’t flat out say it.

“I am… in an acceptable mood.” And that was that as well, apparently.

Kakashi waited a few seconds.

Nothing more was added to that statement.

“Okay, well, normally we’d go over likes and dislikes, but that can wait, and I don’t want to keep you three here any longer, so I’ll make it quick. Be at Training Ground 7 at 9:30 in the morning tomorrow, and if you have trouble finding it, act as if you are going to the academy, but when you reach the sushi shop, take a left instead of keeping straight, you’ll find the training grounds eventually.”

Kakashi waited for the three of them to nod.

“I’d also suggest you don’t eat breakfast. We’ll get down to the nitty gritty of being a ninja tomorrow, I have a test of sorts for you all.”

With that, Kakashi once again disappeared into thin air, as if he was a ghost. Sasuke grunted at the sudden exit, and turned towards his two partners. “If there is nothing more to say, I’m leaving.”

Sakura squinted slightly. “Actually, Sasuke, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me?”

Sasuke pondered for a fraction of a second. “No.” And with that sentiment shared, he started to walk down the stairs, leaving the academy for the last time. Hopefully, anyways. Sakura just sighed in disappointment at the rejection, not surprised but still disheartened.

* * *

Closing the door to his house, Sasuke took a swooping glance at the place. A single television stand in the corner, with a smooth, turquoise silk rug laying softly on the ground. Two sofas were situated against the wooden walls, with a glass table planted firmly between the love seats. A slight layer of dust adorned almost every piece of furniture in the room.

“So bland...”

He moved past the drab decor. Sitting at the dining table, he opened up a book, and flipping to the middle page, he continued to read. Struggling to find enjoyment out of this, he closed the guidebook and stretched his limbs. He looked at the clock.

4:38.

“I hate this...”

* * *

Naruto walked into Training Ground 7, eyeing the battlefield curiously. Nothing seemed to be out of placed. A few sand bags, a battered training dummy, and a multitude of wooden targets, some marked, some not. Setting down his duffel bag and taking out a few kunai, he began his training.

It was currently the wee hours of the morning. He had nothing better to do before the meeting with Kakashi. If he was being honest, he had no incentive to even be here, all he wanted was a source of income, and being a ninja would grant him that wish.

Of course, he was forced into being a ninja due to circumstances that he had no control over, mainly being selected to become the savior of ninjas and the nation itself, but who was he to fight against a man-made destiny?

This was his routine every single morning. Wake up, shower, get prepared, and practice for literal hours until the academy began. It was boring, yeah, but he had no other alternative besides sleep, and sleep, in his opinion, was a waste of time.

And besides, Naruto was used to being alone, so this was no big deal to him. He had nobody in his house besides himself, meaning he could theoretically do whatever he so desired. Too bad he longed for a single person to disobey. At least if he had that, he would know what it was like to have someone be protected by.

He had many hours to sacrifice to training. He decided to practice his wind jutsu. That would be a good aspect of his arsenal to train.

* * *

It was 9:58. Kakashi still wasn’t in front of them. Naruto felt him minutes ago suddenly appear in the trees surrounding them, but decided to keep whatever down time he had still, and let the older man be, content on meditating like Konan would want him doing.

Sasuke, while he hadn’t noticed their sensei in the tree tops, had also decided to meditate, wanting to impress his teacher. He would never say it out loud, but he put a lot of stock into making first impressions.

Sakura just looked on in confusion. She was wondering why the other two weren’t as nervous as her. This would determine their future together! Or at least, she thought it would. She wasn’t too sure about what they were here for, besides it being a test.

When it hit 10:03, Kakashi decided to bless his students with his presence. Hopping to be in front of them, he gave a pleasant eye-smile. “Morning everyone. Ready for the test, my cute little genin?”

Sasuke smirked with a ballooning confidence. “About time you showed up, sensei. I was worried you were scared of us.”

Kakashi merely chuckled with a hidden mirth. “What kind of jounin would I be if I was scared of my own genin?”

With that sentiment said, Kakashi took out a timer and two bells. Clipping the bells to his waist, he twisted the timer. “You three have until twelve noon to get these bells from me. If you fail, you all go back to the Academy for an additional year.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion, obviously confused on Kakashi’s game. “There are three of us, but two bells.”  
  


Kakashi answered the silent question. “Whoever doesn’t receive the bell will be sent back to the Academy. So, no matter what, one of you will not return to Team 7.” He enjoyed the looks of horror planted on Sasuke and Sakura, but with the obvious eye roll from Naruto, he knew that the blond was suspicious of the true meaning of the test.

“You may begin.”

The three genin all dispersed.

* * *

Naruto fled deeper into the thick foliage and crouched down behind an oversized bush. Drawing a sharpened kunai and twirling it effortlessly, he flexed his chakra in an attempt to find his wayward companions.

This was a manageable situation. Sure, all three were heavily outclassed and could easily be eliminated, non-lethally of course, that didn’t detract from the fact that the rules given to them were a distraction. A hoax, a ruse, whatever you wanted to call it, this was one.

Thinking back to what their teachers had pounded into their brains in the academy, it was obvious Kakashi wanted the three rookies to work together and formulate some form of plan in order to take him down, or at least, try to take him down. Now, if they succeeded, that would be the issue.

He managed to find Sasuke a few miles north of his current location, but Sakura was off the grid. The idea of Kakashi taking the weak link out first crossed his mind.

Speaking of which, he couldn’t feel Kakashi’s chakra either, which worried him immensely. Kakashi had either left the training area they were in and completely disregarded the genin, or…

He was hiding his chakra.

Twisting his feet to the side, Naruto began to concentrate on the current situation. Kakashi was more than likely hunting each of them down, trying to eliminate the three before they could group together.

That’s when he felt it.

Soaring into the sky from a chakra enhanced jump, Naruto barely avoided what would have been a monstrous attack from the ground, and with his eyes narrowed, he saw Kakashi glancing up at him in the sky, a look of momentary shock on the visible parts of his face.

“Color me impressed Naruto; you have good reactionary skills. A marvelous trait to have in the ninja force.”

Landing on a skyward tree branch, Naruto weighed his options. He was outclassed, and heavily so. Nothing in his arsenal could even hope to hit the man in front of him, and sadly, he couldn’t think of anything besides fleeing from the man.

This was a war veteran, an elite jounin who had probably murdered or executed countless upon countless. This was a true warrior, a model shinobi, one who wouldn’t think twice to put a kunai through the back of your throat in the name of Konoha.

Flashing through numerous hand seals, Naruto built a chunk of air into his lungs, and with a shout, fired numerous amounts of razor-sharp wind blades.

_“How does a genin know a C-Ranked jutsu? And an elemental release? I guess Yugao taught him a few more tricks than I assumed.”_ Kakashi seemingly melded into the tree that was behind him, dodging the blades as they sliced the ground he once stood on.

Jumping from the tree he was situated on, Naruto landed on the ground and started to run towards Sasuke’s last known position. He needed to regroup, and fast. He could _not_ afford to fight Kakashi head on.

* * *

Sasuke raced over to where he felt a flare of chakra. He assumed one of his two teammates had directly engaged with their sensei, and he wanted a crack at the jounin as well. Jumping onto a tree branch, Sasuke looked around.

Before he knew it, Sasuke was thundering through the air, a pounding headache resting gently on his temple. Shifting to an upright position, he looked up at his attacker.

“You always have to look out for openings, Sasuke. Naruto seemed more than quick to dodge; I expected the same out of you. Perhaps he is better than you?” Kakashi’s eye gleamed with a hint of humor, and his voice was taunting. It sounded calm enough, a prodding question, but the insult was laced delicately in his tone.

Sasuke grit his teeth in raw fury. He wasn’t mad at being attacked, the jounin was right, but he _was_ mad at Kakashi egging him on. As talented as Naruto was, there was _no way_ the blond was better than him!

Drawing three shuriken, Sasuke began his assault. Flipping once through the air to gain momentum, he attacked Kakashi from the front, landing a series of punches to the jounin, who casually deflected all of them with his forearms.

Dodging a sweeping kick from the younger of the two, Kakashi sighed. He had let Naruto get away on purpose, hoping that he would reach Sasuke before the Uchiha had reached them both, but it appears he was mistaken.

Grabbing the boy’s right foot, Kakashi was about to launch a counteracting kick when he felt a presence rapidly approaching from his side. Hurriedly releasing his iron clad grip on Sasuke’s foot, he narrowly avoided a raging kunai from cutting the bells off his waist.

_“He used the distraction of my fight with Sasuke… clever, Naruto, very clever.”_

* * *

Dropping to the floor from the tree top, Sasuke looked at his savior. “What are you doing, Naruto, I had everything under control!” He ground out; his fists clenched tightly. Naruto focused his vision on Sasuke.

“In case you weren’t aware, Kakashi had you subdued. We need to work together, Sasuke.”

“I don’t need help, especially from you, Naruto, so kick rocks!”

Naruto blinked curiously and hesitated, thinking of a response. He wasn’t expecting the Uchiha in front of him to verbally fight him, he was expecting agreement.

“I think it would be best to fight our new master with team work. Sakura can be the bait, and you and I can attack head on.” Naruto finally said, and now it was Sasuke’s turn to blink in surprise.

The wording was off to him.

‘Bait’.

It didn’t sound right. It sounded disconnected, as if Sakura was below himself and Sasuke. It didn’t sound _malicious_ , it just sounded… weird.

Ignoring that for a moment, as much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke knew the boy was right. Kakashi was far stronger than any of them hoped to fight, and despite the both of them being extraordinarily talented, they knew that if either of them went solo, Kakashi would dispatch them almost effortlessly.

Meanwhile, their leader was watching from high in the trees, his lone eye resting on the scene before him. With a small but genuine smile resting beneath his mask, he knew that this team would prosper into something special. Something special indeed.

He saw the potential in all three of his students. Naruto Uzumaki, son of his late sensei, jinchuriki for the cursed Fox. Sasuke Uchiha, prodigy of the once great clan, younger brother to Itachi Uchiha.

Which left Sakura Haruno…

She was, and he truly meant no offense, the weakest link out of the three.

While Kakashi personally wouldn’t use the term ‘bait’ – something he would need to discuss with Naruto after this was over – she had limited taijutsu, practically zero ninjutsu, and had pitiful chakra pools. Her only saving grace was her apparent knack for chakra control and her genjutsu skills.

He would need to work with her the most to catch her up. He was sure that Naruto and Sasuke would survive on their own, assuming they had a little bit of guidance to propel them to greatness.

He would let them group up and initiate a team attack. Even if they didn’t get the bells, assuming they focused on the team work aspect of combat, he didn’t see any reason why he shouldn’t accept them.

* * *

The deadly duo glanced down at the pitiful sight before them. Their third teammate, Sakura, was knocked unconscious and was laying on the thick dirt rather ungracefully. Naruto crouched down and shifted her body to be upright.

“Genjutsu, minor chakra exhaustion. She’ll be fine, just give her some space.” Naruto took out a small flask of water and doused the pinkette with the cold fluid, the younger girl sputtering awake.

“W-where are we?” Sakura stuttered in fear, glancing around to see if their sensei was still lingering. Naruto glanced back momentarily at Sasuke, who merely huffed and looked away in indignation.

“We need your help, Sakura. We can’t hope to pass this test without you.”

Naruto explained the situation to her. Glancing at each other, they began to formulate a plan.

* * *

“You all failed to retrieve the bells from me.” Kakashi began, and putting his book away, he scoped the three students for their reactions. Sakura looked ready to burst into tears, Sasuke was looking anywhere but at him, and Naruto was fearless, his poker face unwavering.

“ _At least one of them has guts in the face of trouble._ ” Kakashi thought in slight disappointment, hoping that the other two would accept their hardships.

“However, what I saw impressed me,” he started once more, causing the other two to glance at him curiously. “I saw teamwork, I saw encouragement, and I saw what it takes to be a Konohagakure shinobi. You all have your faults, and all have your rough edges, but for the most part, you are all talented in your own ways.”

Kakashi looked at the three genin. “Welcome to Team 7.”

* * *

Darkness was all he saw. His senses were going haywire, and ear shattering sounds were assaulting him. He couldn’t feel anything, his sense of sight, touch, and smell gone. He could blindly hear the sounds of mechanical workings whirring around him, and he could guess that he was in a hospital.

  
He couldn’t move his body at all. Any attempt was met with a piercing pain, and with a groan, he tried to activate his Sharingan, but found that chakra control was practically impossible.

Slowly but surely, he was starting to get his sight back. First a blinding white light made itself known, but after a few minutes, he could clearly see his holding room.

To his right was a heart rate machine, his body hooked up quite snugly. Glancing to his left, he saw a metal tray with a few tools resting softly against the sheet. He could idly feel the feeding tube connected to his mouth, and with a grunt, he tried to move his arms to rip it out, but nothing happened.

A clicking, rattling sound drew his attention to the door. A nurse walked in, holding a clipboard. The nurse briefly looked up, and raising his eyebrows, he immediately left the room. A pregnant pause was left in his wake.

Then, the pause gave birth to a calamity. An onslaught of doctors and nurses rushed into his room, everyone hounding him for questions. “ _What the hell is going on? And where is Itachi, I can’t feel his chakra? In fact, I can’t feel any chakra from the Uchiha compound...”_

“How are you feeling, Lord Uchiha?” A doctor asked after a moment, a glazed look protruding from his narrow eyes. The man narrowed his eye dangerously, and after swallowing a bit of saliva, managed to force out a few words.

“Bring me… bring me the Hokage...”

“B-but sir-”

“Bring me the Hokage… now!” A spike of immense tension leaked involuntarily from the patient, and everyone in the room whimpered a tiny bit, obviously not used to the feeling of horrible dread.

The man didn’t wait long for his request to come true, as in a heartbeat, the legendary man, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, was situated calmly in front of him.

“Hello, Shisui Uchiha. I know you must be confused as to what is going on.”

Shisui snorted indignantly, rolling his eye silently as he calculated how to say his thoughts. “What is going on? I feel literally no chakra from the Uchiha sector, and my eye… I am only seeing out of one eye.”

Sarutobi sighed deeply and pulled up a chair, hesitantly taking a seat. Lighting his pipe, he began.

“Shisui, you’ve been in a coma for five years.” Hiruzen paused to catch his thoughts, and commanding both the hidden ANBU and the medical staff, he began again, not looking forward to Shisui’s eventual wrath.

Shisui blinked (winked, Shisui morbidly thought), and Hiruzen continued.

“What I am going to tell you is an S-Ranked secret, punishable by immediate execution should it be discovered you reveal this to anyone not permitted to know, so tread carefully.”

Shisui nodded slightly, a dark gleam glowing in his coal eye.

“Itachi Uchiha slaughtered the Uchiha clan under the orders of Danzo Shimura. Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi’s younger brother, was the only Uchiha who survived, besides both Itachi and yourself.”

Shisui was stunned. He had no idea what the hell had happened, or even how he had ended up in his coma, as he could assume that is what he just awoke from. This was all stupid, asinine, like one big joke, but he knew something was horribly wrong.

“What happened, Lord Hokage?”

That caused Hiruzen to raise an eyebrow in reply. So, apparently Shisui didn’t have all of his memory in place leading up to the night of the Downfall.

“What do you remember about the weeks leading up to that night?”

Shisui thought for a moment, racking his brain in an attempt to stir it after all these years, but nothing concrete was coming up. It was bits and pieces, and despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t grasp a solid memory.

There was stress, there was tension… Itachi was awfully quiet, even sometimes crying to himself when he thought nobody was looking… Danzo? Was Danzo involved? Shisui could swear that the old man was involved somehow.

And a man in a mask, interrupting something?

“I’m sorry, my Lord,” Shisui eventually started. “I’m having a hard time remembering.”

Hiruzen sighed and nodded, as if that’s what he was expecting all along. Surely, with his mind jumbled, there wouldn’t be much to remember, no matter how hard he tried.

“The Uchiha clan was conspiring an attempt to overthrow my reign. I was trying to find a peaceful means to end this conflict, but they wouldn’t accept any peace proposals. Danzo went behind my back to order the slaughtering of the entire Uchiha clan, and Itachi carried it out.”

Shisui was confused for multiple reasons. “What happened to me?”

“Itachi, after he carried out the executions, came to me afterwards and informed me of the news. He found you unconscious and heavily injured, with multiple blood stains on the surrounding grass, but you were bandaged up and recovering. We both don’t know who attacked you, or what even happened that night involving you, just that you were in a deep coma.”

He was attacked? And, while the old man didn’t say it, he could assume his eye was taken in this attack as well. Something wasn’t sitting right with him. Danzo, the crotchety old man, kept flashing in his mind.

“Why not have a Yamanaka read my mind while I was out?”

“We tried, but Inoichi informed us that your mind was heavily damaged by an unknown genjutsu, and the risks of reading your mind could potentially cause your death. Instead, we hooked you up to life support and hoped for the best. I scheduled you for ten years, and instead, you woke up today – five years in, five years left.”

“Where is Itachi now? And why even tell me all of this?”

If it was even possible, the man’s features aged considerably in the span of a second, and Shisui felt a jolt of anxiety swell up in him. If a simple question was all it took for the normally infallible man to crack immediately, he wasn’t sure where this would go.

No matter what, hopefully Itachi was safe from any harm.

“Itachi… joined a group of S-Rank ninja known as the Akatsuki, and is giving inside information to me as a spy. For now, he hasn’t been informed of their plans, but he tells me they are relatively neutral to the business of the Elemental Nations.”

He caught his breath.

“I’m telling you all of this because as the oldest Uchiha remaining, you are now clan leader, and since you were also involved with the massacre, I am legally obligated to inform you of the events that transpired.”

Shisui tried to lift his arms but found he couldn’t once more. “Five years?”

Hiruzen flinched lightly. “Yes, my boy, five years. You are looking at extensive physical therapy in order to even regain full motor functions, never mind working towards what your former skill level used to be. I fear, but fully believe, you will never be the former Kage level nin you used to be, and I am truly apologetic for that.”

Shisui merely grinned coyly, obviously planning something to counteract this. “Trust me, I can get back to my old skill level. Just give me a few years, I’ll be right back where I was.”

The Fire Shadow answered with his own smirk, content on hearing the surefire words coming from the young man resting patiently in front of him. “I’ll send for the best physical therapists in the nation as soon as I can, rest assured, Shisui. You are not alone in this ordeal. For now, I have already requested for a Hyuga to help you with chakra control.”

Shisui scoffed slightly. “I may be a newborn baby right now, Hokage, but I am not helpless,” releasing a carefree grin, Shisui laughed out loud. “I appreciate the help, but I can regain relative control over my chakra given time. I could probably do it today if I tried really hard.”

Standing up, Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe, and looked at the wall clock. “Goodness, I should be heading back to my office, it is about the time of day for the jounin leaders to inform me of how the current crop of genin did. If you could pardon an old man, I need to get going.”

“No worries here, Lord Hokage. Just you wait, I’ll be walking back into your office by the end of the week, and that’s a promise!”

Hiruzen’s eyes widened very slightly but otherwise his body remained unchanged. “ _He’s truly like Naruto in so many ways, almost as much as Obito was...”_

Before he left, he paused when he heard his name on Shisui’s lips.

“Do you have any suspects about who could have attacked me?”

Hiruzen looked grim. “I do.”

And that’s all he had to say, and Shisui understood exactly what he meant.

With that, he ordered two ANBU to be stationed at all times in Shisui’s room, intent on keeping his recovering prodigy safe and sound. Two nurses and a doctor walked past him as he took the scenic route back to his office, enjoying the time away.

* * *

Flopping down onto his bed, Naruto glanced over at his window seal. Rain was thudding against the glass dully, a far cry from the sun that was flashing a few hours ago. He found it funny how things can change in an instant.

He thought of his teammate. Sasuke was like him in so many ways. They were both alone in the world, and although the situations were extremely different, he couldn’t help but find peace and solace with the fact that he could relate to someone his age.

He finally had a family.

Neither Konan nor Obito could train in person with him anymore, as Itachi Uchiha had joined and caused them to disassociate with anything related to Naruto, so both of them wrote scrolls for him to work on.

It had been a few years since he fully went back to Konoha, and yet, he still wasn’t all… ‘there’, if you could say.

He felt emotions, he felt joy, or sadness, but it felt disingenuous.

Perhaps, above all else, it was worth looking into with Kakashi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah this chapter took a LONG time, I know, my sincerest apologies. Life got in the way HARD, especially from roughly October to November. I have chapters all the way to chapter 9 ready to publish, so I'll slowly begin to roll them out every week or two and try to get a consistent schedule until then.


	3. Man on the Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7, having formed into their own, begin to acclimate with each other - and themselves - in their own ways, while other figures in the Elemental Nations begin their plans moving forward.

**-3-**

* * *

Kakashi shivered, a cool breeze groping his body as he walked along the dirt path. There were few lights out in the dark, a majority of the light being given by the ever-present moon. A black cat made itself known with a yawn, and everything was serene.

The only sight to behold was the dirt path in front of him. He could finally enjoy some peace from all the memories that plagued his mind. He was free for the time being.

Glancing over at a branching path, he felt obligated to check it out, but he didn’t know why. He had never taken it before, and he sure as hell didn’t know what lay in wait if he were to follow it. With a shrug, he weighed his options.

Get home and get some much-needed sleep, or follow his gut and take a slight detour? As a human being, the choice was obvious.

As a shinobi, the choice was obvious.

He walked down the path, inhaling the intoxicating scent of the foliage surrounding him, and with a content sigh, he glanced up at the sky. Stars upon stars lit up the milky night sky and gave the impression that a thousand bombs were exploding at once.

This was serene, this was peace, this was tranquility; He would need to do this more often, lest he fall into the life of boredom and normality. This was quite all right in his book. Quite all right indeed.

He rounded the next corner calmly, looking around to see his surroundings. He could tell he was in a park of sorts, but personally, he had never visited said park before. This was all very foreign and new to him. He would have to visit this park more often, preferably in the day time.

Kakashi was alone, he was almost certain of it. Nobody was even close to being around, and while he couldn’t sense chakra like a sensor, the confidence he held in his own abilities to gather intelligence was astounding.

Being alone was something he was used to, something that he made a part of who he was as a person. Of course, he had romantic interests, like Anko or… actually, Anko was the only person, male or female, that had ever tried to make a move on him in recent times, and that, albeit only slightly, concerned him.

He was a good-looking man, had a decent career, great pay. He had everything going for him! Of course, he knew that nearly nobody in the world could ever see the true him, due to blocking everyone out, but that was beside the point.

He was a great catch, dammit!

He sighed; that was enough of the depressing thoughts, he had to keep an upbeat and happy attitude about him, lest he want to rejoin the ANBU for a second depression session, and God knows that he would probably never recover a second time through.

Reaching a lake that rested lightly in the middle of the park, Kakashi took a seat by a nearby bench and yawned softly, drowsiness overtaking his body. It was far past his bedtime, but for some reason, he was compelled to go towards this park, like it was almost destiny.

The snapping of a twig a few paces to his right is what eventually drew him out of his day dreaming. Drawing and loosely clutching his favorite romance novel, Kakashi casually strolled down the path once more, not at all disturbed by the noise.

It was more than likely a raccoon or a wild dog, searching for scraps to hold them over until the nocturnal animals surfaced for the night. Whatever the case, he was sure that it was nothing that could pose him harm.

The artificial lighting of the lamp posts around him was a welcomed guidance for him, as he wasn’t quite sure where he was going for the time being. And when thinking about it, he wasn’t quite sure where he was going at all. He hoped that something would strike him soon, something that would give him a purpose for the time being.

Looking forward, he saw a peculiar sight, one that he wasn’t honestly expecting at all to be seen. One Naruto Uzumaki, sitting on a wooden, half rotted park bench, intently watching ducks and geese swim in front of him, chucking tiny pieces of bread for the animals.

This was odd. Odd as hell. Naruto was normally at his house for the remainder of the day after a team practice or D-Ranked mission. For some reason, Kakashi was extremely interested in what Naruto would be up too at this time of night.

“You know, Naruto, bread isn’t healthy for a bird’s diet. Try some fruits instead, or seeds.” Kakashi leaned forward onto the bench, and wobbling slightly, took in the sight that Naruto was taking in.

The water ran for seemingly miles, with various animals and vegetation floating harmlessly around. The poplar trees surrounding the vast lake gave it an elegant appearance. Overall, the view was quite nice.

“I’m sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I was feeding them with the only thing I had with me.”

Kakashi internally snorted in amusement, but instead opted to stay quiet. “You carry bread everywhere you go?”

Naruto couldn’t hide the blush of embarrassment on his face. Turning back towards the lake, he sighed.

“Is there something you want to talk about, Naruto?”

He was hesitant, but eventually he opened up to his teacher. “Do you ever feel like you can’t express yourself sometimes? No matter how hard I try, I just can’t connect with my peers.”

Turning towards his master, Naruto glanced up at the lone eye peering curiously back at him. “I mean, Sakura and Sasuke are both neutral towards me, but not anybody else. I grew up alone, I have no parents, the closest thing to family would be you, Yugao, and the Lord Third, but that isn’t satisfactory to me, I want to experience a bond.”

Again, with the weird-ass phrasing of words, it was odd. He was like, 12, and _most_ 12-year-old kiddos didn’t talk like that – except Itachi, that was par for the course with him.

He pointed at the blazing moon. “I feel like I’m on the moon sometimes, Kakashi-sensei. Does that make sense?”

And indeed, it made sense. It made too much goddamn sense.

Kakashi took a seat next to Naruto. “I’m sorry, Naruto.”

The boy glanced cautiously at the older man. “For what, Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi shook his head in self-disappointment. “For not being there for you as much as I should have been growing up.”

Naruto laughed joyfully, or attempted too. It sounded fairly robotic – rehearsed. “Nonsense, sensei. You did your best; I know you had duties for the village. I know you visited me whenever you could.” And he was being truthful. He was not mad at all towards the scarecrow.

Kakashi glanced up at the moon. “I guess you are onto something, Naruto. Can I tell you something about myself?”

“Go ahead.”

“Sometimes, I feel the same as you,” he wasn’t quite sure why he was revealing all of this to Naruto, but he was. Maybe it was because he was so close to his late sensei, Naruto's father, but something was causing him to spill his heart.

“I wanted to take you in, to try and prevent you from growing up the same way as me, but obviously that wasn’t possible. I was an emotional wreck for multiple reasons. I went to alcohol to escape my pain, but that was temporary.”

Naruto hummed in reply and glanced coyly at Kakashi. “So, you are saying alcohol is a good method for me?”

If there was a real-life equal to the ‘record scratch’ moments in movies, then the older of the two just experienced it for himself, all in one swift motion.

Did… did Naruto make a _joke_? And it was _actually good_?

Kakashi eye-smiled back at the blond, amusement painted on his gaze. “Well, you still can’t drink until you are 18, Naruto. But no, I am not condoning using alcohol as an escape method.”

The two of them enjoyed the peaceful silence. Occasionally, a duck or a goose would waddle up to them and quack thoughtfully at the duo, before waddling slowly back the other way. The two of them didn’t want to break the silence, even if the world was ending.

“Say, Naruto, it’s getting pretty late, isn’t it? Why don’t you get to bed? We do have team training tomorrow.” Naruto nodded thoughtfully in response, but offered no reply, instead only a sigh of resignation.

“Before you go, how about a team dinner tomorrow? A Team 7 bonding session, if you will. Would that be okay?”

It was subtle, almost embarrassingly so, how quickly the flash of joy was on Naruto’s face, and if he was paying less attention then Kakashi would have sworn it was a trick of the lighting, but the former ANBU knew what he saw. It actually saddened him how depraved of social interaction Naruto was, something he intended to fix, or at least die trying to.

“Of course, that would be okay, Kakashi-sensei! I would be… thrilled,” he had to think of the word, “to have my team over for a dinner. What time do you think would work best?”

Kakashi gave it a good few moments of thought. “I’d say it really depends on you, but does six in the evening work for you, Naruto? I have a jounin meeting at seven-thirty, so that gives us roughly an hour and a half, and yes, I promise I’ll be on time for the dinner.”

Naruto merely narrowed his eyes, but after a moment, he nodded. “You better not be lying, sensei.”

Kakashi had the decency to look ashamed, a bashful look on his face.

* * *

Sasuke walked into the training grounds that he had grown accustomed to every morning, a light scowl on his face. He was still slightly sore and tired from the chakra exercises he was performing yesterday, and his body was telling him to stay indoors and relax.

He spotted his blond teammate peering towards the main body of the surrounding forest blankly, his mind obviously somewhere else besides his current location. Sasuke merely shrugged.

This had been the process he was used to for a few days now. Arrive, meditate, train, missions, leave. It was quite dull, if he had to be honest. He wanted to be stronger, much stronger than he currently was. After all, he was nothing but a foolish little brother…

Shaking clear of thoughts better left unmarked, the Uchiha took his customary seat against a mighty cypress tree. He sighed in resignation. One day he would make it out of this boring old place.

A few hours eventually passed and his leader was once more in front of the three students. “Now team, before we do anything more today,” the day had barely started. “If it is okay with you two, I want to have a team bonding dinner at Naruto’s house, courtesy of our favorite knucklehead here.” At that, he affectionately rubbed Naruto’s head, the blond going near-comatose at the sudden physical contact, prompting Kakashi to hurriedly remove his hand.

“I don’t have a problem with that Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura said, grinning slightly towards her orphaned teammate.

Sasuke, if he had a problem with the dinner, didn’t bother to voice audible words, instead grunting and glancing the other direction. Kakashi sighed in response to Sasuke’s response. This would be a long day today.

“The dinner will be at six, so get there at roughly five-thirty, please. Help Naruto set up and such,” handing two small pieces of paper to Sasuke and Sakura, he continued. “that’s his address.”

Pocketing the slips, they both bowed slightly towards Naruto in thanks, and he found himself attempting to smile in return, knowing that would be an appropriate response. This wasn’t so bad, come to think. Of course, he wasn’t too sure if they were accepting because they enjoyed his presence, if it was the free food, or if it was because Kakashi implied attendance was not up for debate.

“Now that dinner is taken care of, we are going to start training for today. Tree walking will be what we start with.”

Sakura raised her hand in confusion. “Sensei, what is tree walking?”

Kakashi eye-smiled in return. “Good question, Sakura. Tree walking, and by extension surface walking, is a vital tool in any ninja’s arsenal.” To demonstrate his point, he scaled the nearest tree, peering down at his two awestruck students.

Naruto merely looked on.

  
Kakashi dropped down. “In order to cling to surfaces, you must channel chakra to the bottoms of your feet. Not too little, unless you want to drop immediately, but not too much, lest you want to be shot from the tree like a cannon.”

Shooing them from their spots, Kakashi opened his book and read it carelessly, his lone eye devouring the book’s contents, pupil racing from line to line and letter to letter, image to image, page to page.

Sakura took a tentative step onto a piece of bark, a small, thin line of chakra illuminating the bottom of her foot like a light bulb. She attempted to place her remaining foot onto the tree, but instead found her butt firmly planted on a patch of soil, a worm poking out in confusion at the extra weight.

Sakura frowned, obviously she didn’t expect to get it down pat on the first try, but she didn’t think her chakra control was _that_ bad! Maybe it wasn’t, and this was just a new, foreign concept to her, but she would have to practice a lot more if she wished to achieve progress for her team, but more importantly, for herself.

Sasuke, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, was absolutely frustrated. Absolutely livid would be a more apt description. He was from the famed Uchiha clan! An exercise of this level should _not_ be dragging him down this much. This was asinine on so many levels, and yet…

He glanced towards his left. The lone female of the team was about halfway to the top of the soaring tree, a careful and considered approach floating delicately on her heels. She had a bead of sweat rolling down her slender face, but other than that, along with the look of concentration adorning her face, she seemed to be calm.

Turning the other way, he saw that Naruto was already at the very top of the tree! “Naruto! How did you reach the top already?”

The genin merely shrugged nonchalantly, not perturbed by the fuming Uchiha gazing harshly up at him. “I read up on genin exercises at the library. You should try it sometime.” Naruto said after a moment, mimicking hand movement he saw in a book, “finger guns” as it read.

Meanwhile, Kakashi narrowed his exposed eye at the scene. It was one thing to know a basic C-rank elemental release while being a fresh graduate, that was extraordinarily common amongst clan children, but being able to walk on the sides of trees with apparent ease, and absolutely no struggle at all?

Something was wrong.

Meanwhile, Sasuke snarled at the bark, the same bark that seemed to be laughing coyly back at him. How dare that blond-headed fool! Who does he think he is?

He took another attempt at the exercise, but like the numerous attempts before, he was suddenly launched towards the ground, the ground beneath him having been torn up from the impacts before.

“You know, Sasuke,” Kakashi drawled from his perch. “perhaps you should try to use less chakra. You _have_ been launched quite a few times.” With that sentiment shared, he went back to reading his book, but it seemed to anyone who would be watching, his eye lingered at the very top of the page he was reading.

Sasuke huffed and turned back towards the tree. Gaining a running head start, he began his attempts once more, this time scaling a few more steps before ultimately sliding down the trunk.

Naruto tapped his chin in thought. Perhaps he should ‘throw’ his fellow nin a ‘bone’?

“Sasuke,” he called out softly, twirling a kunai in his hands. “Instead of trying with a running start, why not try first with baby steps, like Sakura?” As simple as it sounded to the blond, he knew the brunette’s pride would surface, and surface harshly.

* * *

His mouth was open wide, like a maw.

All of his planning, all of his efforts, the amount of resources and dedication poured into the brat, and it was all gone, like this? Every diagram he showed her, all of the guarded steps and boundaries he crossed to ensure that everything would go as smoothly as possible.

Surely this was her idea of a weird, cruel joke?

“Konan… what is the meaning of this?” Obito demanded, his tone even, despite the overwhelming rage that threatened to overtake him where he stood. His fists were clenched tightly, a few drops of blood surfacing from his palms. His breathing was ragged, the primal instincts of a natural hunter surfacing.

“Madara’s plan for the moon-” Konan tried to intervene from the oncoming rant.

“Is a hoax! It’s a sham! It’s complete and utter nonsense!” Obito shouted furiously, his Sharingan peering dangerously at the horribly neutral woman staring rather impassively at him.

“…it’s the only way to achieve total peace for the Elemental Nations. I am afraid, Obito Uchiha, that I will be going with the plans of Pain, whether you want to or not.” Konan finished for herself, ignoring the absolutely _blistering_ look being sent her way.

Obito paced in front of her, his steps crooked and rough, his normally passive aura turning downright _menacing_.

“We took a lot of steps for this-”

“And we are taking no more,” she cut him off. “Pain is right; The Eye of the Moon is the only way we can establish true peace amongst the world, and your little plan for creating a super weapon undermines the very foundational beliefs the Akatsuki was founded on.”

His fury was building with each word she had the audacity to let escape from her lips, the swashing and brittle composure he was so proud of at one point threatening to collapse where he stood.

Obito tightened his fist.

Konan merely tilted her head and looked away from the sight of the furious Uchiha, knowing her next words would ignite the spark entirely.

“You are to visit Naruto and seal away the Sharingan. If you fail to comply, you will be eliminated.”

Instead of a blistering chaos erupting from the man, he simply gripped his mask, and ungripped it, repeating this process a few times, apparently trying to control his rage.

Obito shook his head in disgust, in furious anger, but no words of protest managed to slip out of his

“Understood.”

Konan gave a nod of satisfaction.

Obito, having said what he needed to, disappeared into a swirl, an angel to dwell in silence. She, and by extension Pain, didn’t trust Obito for a mere moment, but until the day came he double crossed them, he would not perish.

Meanwhile, Obito sighed into his mask. Of course, he wasn’t going to go along with this plan, he would warn Naruto, and if need be, develop a contingency plan. He would keep Naruto away from Nagato, no matter the cost.

He was vital to defeating Madara, and this was certain.

* * *

Jumping across the pathway, Naruto swiftly dodged a heavy strike from his battle partner, his instincts guiding him softly. Blocking two more punches, he shot a quick jab back, clipping Sasuke on his chin. Twisting his body to gain leverage, Sasuke attempted to deliver a kick.

Jumping backwards, Naruto threw a group of dulled shuriken at the Uchiha. Sasuke deflected the tools with a newly drawn kunai, a dangerous glint reflecting the sunlight. Naruto gave a small grin, letting it slip, knowing Obito wasn’t there to reprimand him.

Sasuke waited patiently for his partner to initiate once more. This would be good- no, this would be great! It would be an ultimate test to prove if he was growing stronger by the day. He would be ready for anyone if he kept this pace up.

Until they continued for a bit more.

His body ached, and Sasuke panted, grasping for any strands of air to refuel his metaphorical tank. He was used to these spars, but yet, he never seemed able to grab the upper hand, no matter how much he was able to predict Naruto’s attacks.

He should be stronger than this! This should be child’s play for him! And yet, here he was, once again coming short when it mattered the most. He was quite honestly disappointed in himself, if this was all he could do after swearing revenge against his older brother. He was such a fool, if he thought about it.

Sasuke immediately disappeared from sight, his outstanding speed coming into play for the first time this session. Unfortunately for the Uchiha, his blond companion was seemingly far, _far_ faster that he was.

Naruto swept his foot behind him, causing his fellow orphan to go careening into the ground. Delivering a swift ax kick, the boy managed to roll out of the way when Naruto’s foot cracked mercilessly into the solid ground.

Before the fight could escalate any further, they were quickly brought to a halt, as to not disturb them before they _really_ got into the spar.

“Alright you two, that is quite enough. Naruto, I am impressed by your speed perception. Sasuke, I see you have improved your reaction speed from the genin test. Great stuff all around, to the both of you.”

Naruto nodded in acceptance of the praise, and gave a short bow to his sensei. He extended his hand towards Sasuke, and the boy accepted it, being helped up.

“That is all for today. No missions, as the Hokage as summoned me for some events that I must tend to. Meet at Naruto’s apartment for the dinner by five-thirty, please. Dismissed.”

* * *

Naruto settled into his bed after a steamy shower, his tense muscles slowly loosening themselves against the thick, soft cotton blankets. It was four-twenty. He would start cooking their dinner at around five sharp. He had plenty of time to rest his core.

Snuggling deeply into the cocoon that was his bed, he glanced outside his apartment window. A light drizzle was making itself know, and Naruto felt he enjoyed the rain. It was free.

Something felt off, however.

Like something very bad had just taken place. Shrugging to himself, he rolled over.

That’s when he felt a chakra source he did _not_ expect to sense. Shifting himself to be upright, he paused. No, that couldn’t be his chakra…

Jumping up and putting a shirt on, he quickly walked to the door, and opening it, his fears were unfortunately confirmed. Obito Uchiha, mask and all, were staring down at him.

“Move, Naruto, I am risking our whole identity with me being here, so shut up and pay attention.” Not exactly surprised at Obito’s little rant and more so shocked that he was there at all, Naruto dumbly nodded his head and took a seat on his love sofa, staring with a fastened curiosity at his true master.  
  


“Now, what I am about to say is going to be a shocker, no doubt, but you have to believe me, I swear I am not lying or deceiving you, okay?”

Naruto nodded. Of course, Obito would never willingly or knowingly deceive him, it didn’t need to be clarified.

Actually, first…

“Let’s talk, somewhere else.” His Kamui warped into reality.

Naruto, once more, found himself in the Kamui dimension, for the first time in what had been probable _years_. It was still devoid of any substance, just merely grey blocks floating, trapped in space and time to remain stagnant.

Naruto was across from his master, who was staring at him, the red of his eye boring into him.

“Tell me, boy, what has been my goal all along for you?” He finally asked after a moment.

It wasn’t the first time he had been asked this question, but it never felt… threatening, like it did now.”

It was an unexpected question, above all else. He came all the way to ask that?

“I am to awaken the Sharingan, then eventually the Rinnegan, and defeat Uchiha Madara, should he ever be revived.” The blond recited with pristine accuracy, being granted a nod from Obito in return.

They continued to stare at each other, waiting for an indication, seemingly any.

Shifting his hand, Obito dug through a bag and threw Naruto a kunai.

“Have you been training yourself in melee combat?” The Uchiha questioned, drawing his own kunai.

Naruto had not been, not as much as he should have been, and he knew Obito would sniff out the deceit if he decided to lie to the older. While his punishment would probably be strict and severe, it was deserved if he hadn’t been training.

“No, sir, I have not been.”

A deathly silence spread.

Instead of the anger, the disappointment, the eventual suffering that would spread into his voice, Naruto found none of that in Obito at the moment. “Then I suppose now is the best time for a lesson to catch you up.”

Naruto blinked, and before he knew it, Obito was charging at him with his own set of kunai, slashing down as he barely avoided the attack. He attempted to dance around it, but this particular session was especially violent.

Uzumaki moved, and so did Uchiha. One was dancing, and the other was raging. Over and over, through and through, above and under, the boy attempted to bob and weave, occasionally deflect, while he was being assaulted from any direction Obito saw fit.

The clashing of kunai was all anyone could hear, besides the occasional grunt from Naruto.

“Focus, boy!” Obito forced through the colliding sounds of metal, his voice ragged, and he tried to obey, but his master was faster than that, planting a brutal kick to his ribs, forcing him backwards with no reprieve as he was immediately on the defensive again.

Dodging another punch, and deflecting the kunai strike sliding in from the side, he couldn’t avoid the rising knee that clipped him in the thigh.

Jumping back, Obito threw three shuriken, one of them grazing Naruto on his shoulder, and continued his physical assault.

“Are you dumb or are you deaf? I said focus!”

Naruto lightly panted in exhaustion as he was, once again, kicked backwards, and immediately clamped forward as Obito almost stabbed him.

“I said focus!” The Uchiha disengaged and delivered a brutal punch to his jaw, sending him skidding back.

“Focus!”

The man threw another three shuriken, and he felt hopeless as to what he was supposed to do. Obito was essentially beating him stupid, what more did he want?

It was stressful. He knew Obito could be rough, but this was cruel, even by his standards.

And then something _changed_.

Time seemed to slow down, and he could see the flow of the shuriken, the pattern, how they were traveling and where they would end up, and he narrowly ducked under the blades.

Immediately, Obito raised his hand, and Naruto nearly collapsed, the sign that it was over.

“Well, that’s what I wanted to see.”

Naruto glanced down at his kunai, and red eyes peered back at him, three tomoe in each eye.

“Although,” Obito continued, as if nothing extreme happened. “I am rather surprised you have a fully matured Sharingan immediately.”

The two of them shared a look, black on red, before being black on blue.

“You know how to deactivate it already, that’s good.”

Obito released a sigh he didn’t know he was holding in.

“Listen to me, Naruto. You cannot tell or show _anyone_ you have a Sharingan, okay? That means no training with your genin team or jounin sensei, no using it on missions. You use it _exclusively_ in private, where you are _certain_ nobody is in the room, are we clear?”

Naruto nodded again. That made the most sense. He wasn’t an Uchiha, so of course he had to keep it hidden. That still left what his master came for in the first place, however.

As if reading his mind, Obito took the initiative. “Konan isn’t your ally anymore; she has betrayed you. The only members you can trust fully are myself, and a man named Uchiha Itachi, okay?”

He expected Naruto to take it a little worse than he had, but the boy simply stared at him. “So, Konan needs to be killed eventually?”

“Eventually,” Obito nodded, slightly surprised at how quick he was to accept that he was going to kill his only other teacher. “I understand this may be hard to understand, but you are very important for the future of the world, okay?”

Shaking his head, the boy looked up. “I’m not surprised; I’m used to it, master. I’ll do my best to support you.”

And that was true. He would serve Obito faithfully.

* * *

After that little episode, Naruto was back in his apartment, the spaghetti dish now fully being prepared. It was a rather fancy spaghetti dish, if he did say so himself.

Putting the finishing touches on the dish, he set it out and waited for a few moments, feeling his teammates and sensei rapidly approaching his apartment building. Flickering off his Sharingan, he got a few glasses of water and a bottle of champagne – and no, he wouldn’t explain where he got it if questioned – ready for the night.

That was something he wasn’t exactly accepting, at least not yet. Having a Sharingan, even if it is artificial, is a scary thought to him. He wasn’t exactly prepared to start training on how to use it, and because it was already matured for reasons unbeknownst to himself, he had to adapt to the Sharingan, and he had to adapt _fast._

Foreign feelings, especially when it came to his body, were not that uncommon for him. He housed a literal chakra entity inside of him, his family, adoptive and biological, had forsaken him in one way or another, and now he was borrowing from another clan to fuel someone’s ideology for the ultimate battle between peace by conquest and peace by acceptance.

Then again, he could adopt reading shameless smut, like his sensei, or he could take up about a hundred different things that the various shinobi of Konoha seemed to have, but that would only make him a dirty thief in his eyes.

Jumping across the apartment, he smoothed his shirt out and attempted to fix his hair from its messy strands, before peering thoughtfully into the bathroom mirror to see if it was apparent that he had been brawling earlier. His eyes only looked a little puffy, but it could be passed off as allergies, and not intense sweat dripping from his head.

He finished grooming himself and went outside to greet his guests, wanting to make a great impression and show them he meant serious business with his cooking.

His mind never seemed to leave the tragedy, unfortunately.

* * *

Zetsu crawled through the base of his target. Silently slipping past two of the guards who denied anyone access that wasn’t approved, he continued deeper into the walls. This was nothing more than a business opportunity, an olive branch being extended in a generous act, one rare enough for the hybrid monster.

He couldn’t be damned if he was being honest, this was a waste of time.

Eventually, he came to the room, sinking slowly from the roof until he was directly behind the man he wanted to discuss future plans with.

“You snuck through my base and didn’t immediately attempt to assassinate me, so spit it out, before I take offense to your presence.”

Insolent little brat.

“My master offers you a deal, Hiruko. All he wants is your allegiance when the time is right.” Zetsu murmured, causing the pale man to turn slightly.

“Oh, and who is your master?”

Zetsu’s grin was demonic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm double posting this right now to put some meat on this story, seeing as it needs it.


	4. The Uchiha Collusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke finds out an interesting development, and so does Itachi.

**-4-**

* * *

“Something’s wrong, Lord Third.”

Hiruzen took a puff out of his brown pipe and let the smoke drift lazily out of his window. The birds were chirping softly outside of the window, and the cloudless sky seemed peaceful. It reminded him of watching the clouds with Asuma many suns ago.

The day was still young, but apparently not gentle.

“Explain, Kakashi.”

The jounin in reference seemed at ease, but Hiruzen picked up on the subtle annoyance in his voice, but they both knew the Third was his immediate commander; any disrespect was forbidden.

No matter how hard Kakashi tried to hide it, the man in front of him wasn’t called The Professor for laughs and giggles.

The birds continued to chirp.

He knew it all the same, how Kakashi was fed up with how little he could check in on Naruto before being assigned to his team. How the man hated watching his sensei’s only living child attempt to socialize, only to fall short. It was a pity, really, and Hiruzen knew the man in front of him blamed the two of them and nobody else.

“Naruto, he’s- I think something is different about him.”

Hiruzen took another drag.

“This has been well documented.”

“No,” Kakashi interrupted, and this warranted a raised eyebrow. He _never_ was impatient enough to interrupt. “this is different, he shies away at any physical contact that isn’t sparring related and he knows techniques he shouldn’t, such as walking on water.”

Hiruzen merely glanced out of his window again. “We have known for a while that Naruto owned immense potential, especially given his lineage. The physical contact thing is odd, I agree, but he has always been a rather… quirky, kid.”

It was a casual dismissal, and Kakashi knew he couldn’t fight it.

“Do keep an eye on him, however. I’ll make sure to pay him more visits and see for myself how he’s doing.”

It was better than nothing.

* * *

Jumping out into the open air, their taijutsu match was blistering, the impact of each hit being felt by both sides. Ducking under a snarling kick, a strand of his hair whip-lashed, causing Naruto to raise his eyes in alarm. This was it; this is how he dies.

Falling back safely onto the ground, Naruto delivered a well-timed shot to Sasuke’s open chest, his guard having dropped momentarily. Following up with a kick to the solar plexus, he continued his rush towards the lone Uchiha, and attempted a fierce ax kick.

Sasuke slid hastily out of the way. He gripped Naruto’s wrist and smirked, exuding a cocky aura that seemed almost natural for the Uchiha. “Gotcha.”

Naruto returned an equally coy attempt at a smile. “Not quite.” Using Sasuke’s grip and balance, the ghostly Uzumaki vaulted over Sasuke and put him into a headlock, causing the boy to start losing air. “Forfeit.”

Choking a bit of his breath out, Sasuke frowned. “T-this isn’t over yet.” The lack of air flowing was starting to cause vision loss.

“I said forfeit, Sauske.”

Sasuke, the fighter he was, refused to go out like that. Twisting his body slightly, he slammed his elbow into Naruto’s stomach, causing the blond to drop him and take a hop back.

“Fireball Jutsu!” Naruto didn’t have time to react before the jutsu collided with him, forcing him backwards into a tree, his back no doubt bruised. “Son of a- how dare he use jutsu.” Naruto ground out to himself, pulling himself up.

“This was taijutsu only.” Naruto lamely said, twisting his clothes back into place, and Sasuke smirked, a devilish gleam entering his eye, casually tossing a shuriken up and down.

“I guess you can’t keep up.”

Naruto’s eyes had a dangerous glint in them. “I won’t sink to your level, but be prepared.” Brushing the rubble off of himself, Naruto let out a growl. He peered into Sasuke’s eyes. The Uchiha channeled chakra into his eyes.

Sasuke’s Sharingan, with two tomoe in his right eye and one in his left, leered at him with a haughty confidence, a stone cold, steely resolve reflecting outwards.

Ever since he had awoken his Sharingan, Sasuke had been improving leaps and bounds. His skill had improved immensely. He was still playing catch up to Naruto. However, he had been improving. It wasn’t enough most of the time.

They stared at each other passively. Not a word was being shared, but the message being communicated by both was painfully clear, extremely obvious to the other.

“I see that you resort to the Sharingan more, _Sasuke_.” He frowned in response.

“Is it ‘resorting’ when it is naturally at my disposal? Just because you have no kekkei genkai doesn’t mean I should limit myself, _Naruto_.”

If he was annoyed at the direct advantage that his rival had on him, he didn’t show it, instead opting to resume his fighting stance, prompting Sasuke to do the same.

Reaching into his ninja pouch, Sasuke drew two shuriken. His eyes shone with an unrivaled parallel, a burning passion that could have struck the entire planet in two. A swift silence appeared. A lone bead of sweat slowly cast down his face.

Neither said a word. Just waiting, salivating for the other to strike first. Sasuke, mainly because he could see when Naruto was ready to move, with the only downside being that Naruto’s sheer speed would often crack through his Sharingan defense.

Naruto, mainly because he had lightning reflexes and an incredible strain of concentration to match. It was hell for Sasuke whenever they sparred.

Suddenly, they both rushed at the other, intent on winning their little game this time around.

* * *

A bird chirping in the dense foliage above him was what woke him up from his usual post sparring match relaxation. He rubbed his eyes. Glancing over at the commotion coming from his peripheral vision, he saw the young Uchiha hopping around and throwing shuriken at targets. A look of determination was present.

Naruto got up slowly and hopped over. “Did you master it?” Sasuke gave a small grunt and flashed through a few hand signals.

“Fire Style: Great Fire Ball Jutsu!” A concentrated wave of pure destruction erupted from the boy’s mouth, incinerating a helpless target that had been unfortunate enough to stand in the way.

“No, not that one, the other one.” Naruto hopped away slightly and silently activated his Sharingan. He was focused on the manipulation of chakra that Sasuke would use to form the fireball.

Obito was calm in his approach. He had told Naruto that in order to maximize the output of his Sharingan, he would need to practice with it, and take jutsu in order to widen his arsenal. He wasn’t sure about stealing jutsu, but it worked.

He watched the chakra circulate inside of Sasuke’s lungs, how it shaped itself and seemed to heat up considerably. It was a beautiful creation. It had the power to destroy anything it touched, and it was frightening how amazing that power was.

Sasuke spit the fire. This time around, however, it wasn’t a condensed ball of heat. It wasn’t even something Naruto thought of. This time around, it was a heavenly, spread out field of annihilation, of pure and unadulterated chaos and calamity. It was destruction incarnate.

The fire destroyed the grass it was aimed at, the foliage not standing a chance. A simple, charred section of earth was the only thing that remained after the jutsu collided. Nothing remained except dust.

Quickly limiting the chakra flow to his eyes, Naruto peered at Sasuke. He awaited a response. “I still have practice to do,” he finally said, resting his eyes for a moment. “but by and large, my Fire Style is coming along rather well.”

Naruto grinned – and thought of a silly joke. “Perhaps you can teach me this technique?”

Sasuke grunted in annoyance and walked to pick up his ninja tool pack. “Not a chance, idiot.”

The blonde frowned. Perhaps that wasn’t as clear of a joke as he thought.

“I’m sorry, I was trying to make a-” before he could finish his retort, an ANBU agent, clad in their pristine gray and black uniform, dropped in front of Sasuke. Naruto remained impassive, while Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

“Lord Hokage requests your presence immediately.”

Sasuke nodded, a tad bit confused. In a metaphorically flash, the two of them had disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind Naruto. He blinked curiously at what had happened.

“Okay then.”

Flaring his chakra to make sure nobody was around, he set himself into a solid base stance. He flashed through the same signs Sasuke did.

“Fire Style: Great Fire Ball Jutsu!”

Instead of the glorious field of inferno that consumed the area around them, a small, measly sputtering of flames came out. The flames quickly died out.

“Unfortunate.”

* * *

Sasuke, surprised enough, walked through the hospital hallways. A distinct smell of… _something_ was omnipresent, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to vomit or cry or do both all at once. A headache was his reward.

Two ANBU, one behind him and the other in front of him, guided him through the hallway until they reached a dead end. However, Sasuke could very slightly feel the chakra covering the wall. It was a fake.

The ANBU in front simply walked through the wall, and seeing no alternative, Sasuke followed. Moving past the fake genjutsu wall, Sasuke noticed that not a single nurse was behind the wall, and every room was empty.

A single room was illuminated. It was at the end of the hallway, with the window giving away its secrets. If given a thousand years, he would have never been able to guess what awaited him.

The ANBU gave a very specific, rapid assortment of knocks onto the door, with no real discernible pattern to his method. Suddenly, the door swung open. The Hokage himself was peering down curiously at Sasuke.

The old man looked grim, far too grim for someone his age, his facial features scrunched and furled into a rather hopeless-looking vision. Hiruzen glanced down at the boy in front of him.

“Before you enter this room, Uchiha Sasuke, I must warn you. Whatever conversations happen in this room, whatever you see or hear, must stay in this room. Failure to do so will be met with immeasurable and immediate punishment, with no hesitation. Do you understand?”

This wasn’t the warm, stoic old man that headed the village. This was the God of Shinobi himself, a legendary warrior and an even more terrifying Hokage. Sasuke could only nod his head.

Hiruzen moved out of the way. “Enter, Uchiha.”

Moving past the door frame, the only noise from Sasuke was an audible gasp. No, this was impossible! He had been proven dead long ago, there isn’t a chance that he could be alive!

“Hello, Sasuke.”

He didn’t reply.

“Yeah, I’d reply about the same in your situation. Lord Hokage, can you please leave me and Sasuke alone? There are a few things we need to talk about.” The Hokage nodded, his eyes dropping.

They were alone at once. Sasuke, by this point, had pulled up a chair and was sitting, his body never fully relaxing, a sharpness in his muscles. Shisui ran a cold hand through his naturally messy hair.

“Me and you are the only survivors from the Massacre. I am not sure how or why I am alive, but I am. I have my suspicions, but ultimately nothing to claim confidently. Yet, here we are.”

Sasuke gulped and narrowed his eyes. “Itachi tried to kill you.” It wasn’t a question.

“He may have _tried_ , but he didn’t succeed. I had always been stronger than him, but I guess he caught me at a bad time, and I guess he couldn’t bear to actually kill me, so he induced a forced coma. At least, that is what Lord Hokage told me.”

It wasn’t necessarily the truth, but Shisui wasn’t allowed to tell Sasuke. Not yet, anyways.

“I heard that you, his little brother, had survived,” Shisui continued. “but I wanted to see it with my own eyes. Your brother was a good man-”

“Bullshit!” Sasuke hissed, a dangerous gleam entering his eyes. “In no world is that- that _monster_ a good man! He slaughtered our whole clan, both of our families! Gone, like they never existed; essentially just- just… just data in history books!”

A few guards outside were tempted to inspect what was occurring inside, but otherwise decided that it was best to let the two survivors have their heart to heart talk.

Shisui raised his hands in surrendering. “I understand your frustration, Sasuke. My family as I know it is forever gone, never to return, but things are not as they seem.”

Shisui coughed slightly. “I’m still trying to fully piece together my memories from that night, but I feel as if something isn’t exactly right. I am not able to reveal anything that happened, it is an S-rank secret, but I can tell you that vengeance for that night is a goal of mine as well.”

Shisui knew it wasn’t exactly truthful. He presumed that Sasuke wanted revenge against his older brother, and with the knowledge that he had, he didn’t quite blame him. Shisui, however, was looking for revenge against someone else.

Someone much more involved with the Leaf.

Unfortunately, since they had a lack of concrete evidence and only theories and circumstance, nothing could be done.

Not yet.

Sasuke grunted in response.

“However, Sasuke Uchiha, I give you this warning. Do not follow the path of hatred that many Uchiha fall into. Nothing but destruction follows. I’ll guide you along the way, but I can only do so much.”

Shisui’s Sharingan spiraled into a life of their own, a melancholic smile on his face. The silence of the room was deafening, but only a moment so.

“The pain you are feeling is probably feeling insurmountable, I’d imagine. My only advice is trust in your teammates, confide in them, don’t shelter yourself from their attempts, and believe in the will of fire.”

Sasuke gave an incredulous frown. “The ‘will of fire’ is what led Itachi to slaughtering the whole clan.” The hidden message was clear. Shisui wasn’t sure what to make of it, however.

“And the will of fire is what has led Konohagakure to remain the strongest ninja village out of them all. I’d be surprised if anyone could take us down.”

“Lord Hokage has been revived from retirement, the Uchiha are no more besides me and you, and our strongest ninja in recent history died tragically a little over a decade ago. We are long past the ‘strongest’ ninja village. The will of fire has led to all of these.”

The only response he got was a narrowing of the eyes from Shisui. “Konoha is recovering, but we are still a force to be wary of. I’m sure you can lead Konoha back to its glory days, Mr. Last Uchiha. Are you not the top prospect from the academy?”

Apparently, if Sasuke’s grinding teeth were any sign, he had hit a sore spot. He wasn’t sure if it was about the ‘last Uchiha’ comment or the top prospect comment. Either way, he was amused.

“I am _one of_ the top prospects from the academy.”

Shisui raised an eyebrow. “And, pray tell, who rivals you?”

“Naruto Uzumaki, my, _ahem_ , teammate and rival, according to him.”

The opposite Uchiha smirked. “And is he your rival?”

“If you call me losing a majority of the sparring matches a rivalry, then I suppose.” If there was one minor thing that Sasuke _hated_ with a passion, it was admitting weakness.

Of course, most Uchiha hated admitting weakness too, but it was a rather sore spot for Sasuke.

“I think that the first step to becoming better than him,” Shisui said, gaining Sasuke’s attention. “is to reflect on your attitude. I can tell by how you carry yourself that you have abundant strength but lack the confidence to back it up. You have to believe that you can beat him. It’s the mindset of winning, and not the mindset of ‘not losing’, if you understand me.”

Shisui shifted his body to a more comfortable position. A silence settled itself.

Sasuke was mentally reviewing everything that he had learned over the past half an hour. Shisui Uchiha, former S-rank threat of the Hidden Leaf, was alive and kicking, despite an attempted murder by Itachi Uchiha.

Judging from what Shisui said, there was more to the massacre than he knew. He wasn’t sure how much he didn’t know, but he was aware of, or at least aware of the implication, that Itachi wasn’t the sole factor to blame in the slaughter.

It was probably a farce anyways. Perhaps he was rationalizing the massacre in an attempt to somehow forgive his brother, and maybe, just maybe, bring back the old Itachi. His mind was far too gone for any more heartbreak.

“Well Sasuke, I think it is time for me to get some more rest. The doctors are coming soon for another scheduled round of muscle recovery, and I think you should get some rest.”

Sasuke nodded carefully, a glazed look adorning his normally alert eyes. His body appeared to be moving on its own, with Sasuke being the passenger. He said nothing.

“Remember, Sasuke, don’t let hate guide you.”

* * *

Obnoxious slurping filled his ear drum. A look of pure disgust was on his face. Some birds chirped.

“So, what did Lord Third want?”

Sasuke shrugged, and seeing it, Naruto shrugged too. He would have to do that more.

The Uchiha next to him was quiet for a moment, pondering how to respond. He was legally forbidden from revealing the nature of the talk, and he was made well aware of the consequences.

“He told me some interesting things.”

His rival shot him a curious look, but gave no other answer. They continued to sit at the bar, Naruto occasionally pausing to ask a question. While he would never allow himself to _smile_ , Sasuke wasn’t complaining about the partnership he gained from sitting beside his partner orphan.

“I like hanging out with you, Sasuke. We should do it again sometime. If you want, of course.” Naruto added on with a little pause, not totally meeting Sasuke’s gaze.

Sasuke could only look on with slightly wider eyes than usual, and he couldn’t trust himself to speak without a quiver entering his voice. An emerald green, healthy leaf blew by Sasuke. He quickly schooled his features, and fortunately for him, Naruto didn’t catch his momentary surprise.

“I suppose training with you again would be beneficial, as long as we keep Sakura out of it.”

Naruto frowned slightly.

“I mean she isn’t our level, but it would be beneficial if she improved.”

“I’d rather just train with Kakashi and Sakura at once and _not_ deal with her… fanaticism, unless I need to.”

Naruto slurped his final cup of ramen. “If you say so, I can’t argue against you. Just give it some thought. She respects you a lot.”

Sasuke gave a content hum in response, and cracked his neck.

Maybe he wasn’t that foolish after all?

Just maybe.

* * *

The walls, cracked with filth and dust alike, seemed to stretch for miles upon miles, with no source of light or an end to the long walk in sight. A slight ache bore into the soles of his feet. A bead of sweat dropped.

Continuing his semi-fast pace, the man continued to traverse the darkness. The end goal he had envisioned in his broken mind was not coming to fruition as fast or as clearly as he hoped, but he presumed that’s how life was, in the end.

He wasn’t sure where he hoped to end at, but his life up to this point was hopeless. The walls seemed to be circling around him, drawing smaller as he continued across the halls. His feet stuttered. He felt extremely dizzy, with a knot of unforeseen sickness building up inside of his stomach, but no escape was found.

His pace increased. More sweat dripped from his face. The walls seemed to be trapping him, a feral glint in his eyes. Why did it seem this hallway was so much smaller?

Finally, a ray of faint light reached his eyes, and breaking out into a full sprint, he reached his destination.

It was a well-lit room, and a small bookcase was sitting gently in the corner. There was a slight waft of dust, but other than that it was very generic. A black and red rug, smeared slightly from seemingly decades of use, laid flat. A fireplace that had seen better days stared at him. A very homey feel.

“I hope you didn’t drag me down here for a tea date, _Tobi_.” The man said casually, a hint of hard steel entering his voice. The other occupant of the room, now identified as Tobi, shook his head.

“You’d do well to drop the attitude, _boy_. Might I remind you about your current predicament?” Tobi took a book he had been reading and threw it at him. “Read it.”

He opened the book with a hint of trepidation, slight confusion setting in. Suddenly, he began to flip through the pages, not caring at all about any sort of paper cut. His eyes widened slightly, an increasing heat flowing through him. He felt like vomiting.

“Explain this, Tobi. What is this?”

Despite his face being hidden by his mask, Tobi merely smirked. “That would be Pain’s plans for Naruto Namikaze, and every other jinchuriki out in the world. I know Sarutobi sent you as a spy, but did you really believe that the Akatsuki weren’t pure evil? You must know that Pain has plans for both Naruto _and_ Sasuke, yes?”

Itachi narrowed his eyes dangerously, but remained silent. Obito took that at his chance to continue. “Pain is going to use Naruto and kill him in the process, and we both know that Sasuke’s one true connection to Konoha _is_ Naruto.”

Obito cracked his neck. “I have a proposition for you, Itachi Uchiha, one that I think you’d do best if you accepted.”

This was a tricky situation for the Uchiha Slaughterer. He could either risk everything and accept this deal, or he could risk everything anyways and maybe _potentially_ be able to fix it manually. It was tearing his mind apart.

“I’m listening.”

* * *


	5. Complexion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 find unity in separation.

**-5-**

* * *

Monotonous, rhythmic tapping filled the air. The smell of cheap alcohol complimented the aroma of chaotic laughter and joyous music being played. Eyes fidgeted from side to side.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"You know, Anko, tapping your fingers won't hurry them up." If those words had any change on the person it was directed at, she didn't reveal anything. The tapping continued.

"I don't suppose you know where they are at?" Anko finally drawled, tracing her cup of alcohol with a short fingernail.

"Last I heard, Kurenai was with Asuma, doing Lord knows what, and Guy is on his way. At least, I hope he isn't."

Anko gave a low snort of amusement. "Guy may be… _eccentric_ , sure, but he isn't the worst. I'd much prefer him over Yūhi or Sarutobi. At least Guy actually gets shit done as a mentor. Speaking of which, Kakashi,"

She took a quick sip of her beverage. "how is your team doing? From what I've heard, you got two talented kids and a not-so-talented kid. Am I ringing any bells?"

Not one for her childish instigations, the aforementioned soldier gave a side eye. "Naruto and Sasuke are very adept at what they do, at least in a generic sense. Sakura, while needing work, shows potential, and potential is something I can work with."

"I may have not seen a training session between these two, but I get a more 'Young Kakashi and young Obito' vibe from those two, _Naruto_ and _Sasuke_. At least, with how you describe them."

He showed no visible reaction to his fallen comrade. "Unlike Obito and I, Naruto and Sasuke are _both_ very skilled at a young age. I suppose, if anything, it would be like when Itachi and Shisui Uchiha were still kids, although I'm not sure who is Itachi and who is Shisui."

Anko, if bothered at all, didn't care to show it, and instead gave a rhythmic 'hmm' in response. Kakashi absentmindedly flagged down a waiter and ordered another drink. It grew quiet.

"I missed this."

It wasn't much of a statement at face value, merely something that most would consider a blanket phrase; one that would be used to fill the spaces between the awkward silence, but Kakashi knew better. The history between them wouldn't allow for him to interpret that statement in any other manner. It would be foolish to do so.

Of course, this conversation wasn't one that he was ready to tackle, at least, not fully sober. He wasn't sure about anything, really. Of course, in the back of his mind, he knew the true meaning of her statement.

It was unsaid, but he saw it. It was a breathless whisper on the back of her tongue, taunting him, _begging_ him to take the bait. It raised red flags. He wasn't going to acknowledge it, no matter how his body yearned.

_I miss us._

"We should drink more often."

Anko could only offer a brief scoff, and if he was any judge, it was a scoff of disrespect.

"Perhaps we should, _Kakashi_."

* * *

Six tomoe peered back in interest. Two glowing red eyes skittered back and forth across the mirror in front of him. A lone bead of sweat rolled down his face. All was quiet.

Inside of his bathroom, Naruto had a blue and white scroll resting curiously on his porcelain sink. It had been a 'gift' from Obito – Tobi, whichever one the man preferred, he still wasn't entirely sure.

Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze grazed his hand across the sink and put away the scroll once more. Eventually, he would read it. But not soon.

His blond hair told one story, but his chubby cheeks and weird, freakishly unnatural facial creases eluded to a different tale. He wasn't anything to be proud of, gaunt eyes and well-worn face aside.

He looked like a monster.

Obito had instructed him to not read this scroll, not until he had awoken the Mangekyo Sharingan, but he knew as much before. Reaching forward to close his bathroom cabinet, his fingertips brushed past the mirror before turning away. He had no time to dwell on his flaws.

Sasuke was less… cold? He was less _something_ recently, and as bad as that sounded in his head, he knew it wasn't an insult, but merely an observation.

Sasuke was a good training partner, and aside from the obvious dislike and resentment he held for Sakura as both a teammate and as a person, he knew that eventually they would grow into each other and become the teammates he knew they would be.

Well, eventually. It would all take some time.

Regardless, he had time to spare, and he wasn't continuing on with the both of them without getting Sasuke to open up.

Some day he would have a family.

* * *

Brushing her hair in the bathroom mirror, Haruno would only sigh. Her attempts, albeit the same as last time, and the same as before, and the same as before… they all had failed.

Sasuke and Naruto were an enigma, to put it plainly. Mysteries to the eyes of anyone apparently not named Kakashi. Kids she didn't understand.

Maybe she was the stupid one out of them. Maybe Ino _was_ right, and despite what her test scores and academic grades had suggested, _she_ had no purpose beyond filling in the third spot of the required Genin team. It was unfortunate, really.

Maybe she had to try harder, research different ventures of combat besides rudimentary medical jutsu and the Academy taijutsu. Naruto had the speed of a raging fox and the muscle to match a ferocious ox, while Sasuke had the combat intelligence of a prodigy and the ninjutsu of the famed Madara Uchiha.

Well, that might be an over exaggeration, but it was apt enough.

Putting the brush down, she stepped on the weight scale at her feet. It lit up for a moment, and rested on a number.

112.

Quietly shaking her head, she began the process of getting ready for dinner, ending with washing her hands and beginning with tying her hair up.

This wasn't what she wanted with her life. Naruto _had_ mentioned something about going to the Public library, and she could always begin the long and tedious process of researching some books about the basics of genjutsu.

It was better than letting her teammates improve by leaps and bounds without attempting her own form of powering up.

That much was certain.

* * *

For whatever reason, these sleeping pills never seemed to work as described.

Sasuke gulped two down, and with a frustrated groan, threw the bottle across his empty bathroom, knocking some dust up around the room.

The nightmares about _that night_ were increasing violently, and the bags under his eyes began to remind him of-

No, that was enough of that. He couldn't think like that. Itachi, for all of his good qualities, few and far between, was a murderer, and not just any killer, but a _kin slayer_. Such ideas were masked heavily in the Uchiha clan, met with resounding and absolute total disgrace if even the idea was _suggested_.

Well, what _did_ remain of the Uchiha clan, anyways.

Which wasn't much.

Regardless, him, Itachi and now Shisui were the only three alive. There wasn't much of a clan to speak of.

If only Madara Uchiha could see how low the clan had fallen after creating the world's deadliest tribes.

If only someone like Obito Uchiha, Kakashi's prized teammate, could see how self-destructive the family he once held so proudly had become.

The nights were long, and the days seemed to pass by before he could even begin to count the seconds. Nothing seemed in focus anymore.

Every time he walked home at night, the street lights would pass by him, their colors fading into the night behind him. He was supposed to be stronger than this, stronger than anything he had been tasked with.

He had moved out of his childhood home by the time a year had passed since that night, instead opting to live in one of the Uchiha residences that the Hokage had tidied up, one that had been relatively clean – most other houses were stained crimson.

He left behind everything that made him a child, forced into adulthood at a tender age, against all reasonable doubt.

Feeling the cold air give him goosebumps, Sasuke softly rubbed his arms, tracing some of his marks lightly.

It had been six months since the last.

Sighing to himself, he picked up the bottle and put it back. No use in dwelling on the past, it wouldn’t do him any good, at this rate. Simply focusing on the future would work wonders for his mental state.

At least hopefully, anyways.

Perhaps he could find some restful sleep this time around, for the first time in a long time.

That sounded nice indeed.

* * *

The Professor calmly walked into the hospital room where Shisui was being kept, leaving his guards outside.

To his very slight surprise, Shisui was doing pushups on the ground, training to regain whatever strength he had in his body, training to ready himself to be eased back into the Undergrowth of the Elemental Nations.

The man's hair was growing well past his shoulders, a sweat building up amongst his locks. His arm muscles were already beginning to form back in, and it wouldn't be long before he started on simple exercises, such as chakra control and surface walking.

Shisui paused his workout, taking a small breather to collect his thoughts, and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Greetings, Lord Third, what brings you to my humble abode?"

Hiruzen puffed some of his tobacco pipe and set it to the side. "Good to see you too, my boy. Albeit, while I would like to meet through different circumstances, I suppose the fact I'm meeting with you at all for any form of discussion is a blessing itself. I digress, I'm just an old man rambling."

Unveiling some manilla folders and laying them carefully on the hospital bed-side tray, Hiruzen waved his hand towards a chair, offering it to the Uchiha. Coughing slightly to himself, it took a moment to rest himself on the opposite chair.

"Thank you. How are you feeling?"

Shisui gave his patented grin, although it didn't _quite_ seem to reach his face. His eye seemed less energetic and more, well, restrained. He was definitely looking a little more _pale_ than usual.

Shrugging his shoulders, Shisui rolled his ankles and chuckled. "Well, I will not lie to you, Lord, I have felt better in the past. I can walk normally and now I can do push-ups, which was a rather far cry from a month ago, don't you agree?"

Hiruzen could only nod. "I'm just more relieved that, bar anything coming up in the future, your physicals are completely healthy. Now, your _mentals_ on the other hand…"

They both shared a laugh at this, two old friends reuniting.

"I'm assuming my ANBU Captaincy is not applicable anymore?"

Puffing more of his pipe after picking it back up, he raised his eyebrows. "Oh? And how are you so certain I'm not going to force you into retirement?"

Some birds chirped outside.

"Are you kidding me, old man, you really expect me to think that I'm going to be forced to retire? If anything, I'll be the one taking your throne, while I'm still recovering, I'm only 22, I got plenty of time to recover."

The only response he was met with was the brazen chuckle of the wizened leader in front of him. "You really haven't changed over the years, have you, Shisui? I guess a medical coma would do that to one."

Standing up and stretching, Lord Third hobbled over to the items he brought with him.

"Are you okay with eye surgery?"

Shisui blinked- winked owlishly. "Whose eye am I taking?"

"Your mother's eye _s_. ANBU recovered the body the night of the slaughter and preserved the eyes in case you ever woke up. Don't worry, she was buried along with your father, fated to roam the afterlife together."

Bowing his head in gratitude, he took a moment of silence.

Shisui pondered the original question. It wouldn't hurt to have vision restored, and in the best-case scenario, having the Eternal Mangekyo in his arsenal would certainly help.

"I'm assuming my mom's eyes would be the closest genetic link and have the best success rate for restoring eyesight?"

"Correct. All proper tests and labs ran under Inoichi and Shikaku have come back with a 98% success rate, and we ran them a few times to have total peace of mind. Ultimately, it _is_ your choice, but do remember what it means to have complete vision."

Shisui tapped his chin in apparent thought. "When can the surgery be done?"

Unfolding the manilla paperwork and handing it over to the Uchiha, the Professor glanced out the window. "A week's time, at the earliest. Shikaku and Inoichi heavily recommended three different physical exams before the surgery, and I'm inclined to agree."

"It's all the same to me, Lord, whatever helps me onto my feet."

They continued to discuss a few topics of interest, such as training procedures, the other Jounin and when they would be informed, and most importantly above all, the topic of one Sasuke Uchiha.

And by extension, Itachi Uchiha.

"Itachi, as you have heard before, is currently a spy for us in the mercenary group known as the Akatsuki, a wandering sort of marauder collective. He feeds us monthly updates on their movements and plans, as we have reason to believe they will turn into a terrorist group in time."

Turning his head at this back to his leader, the other man raised an eyebrow. "Who all would I recognize in the group?"

Removing another set of paper from the manilla folder, Hiruzen flipped a page. "Kisame Hoshigaki, Kakuzu the Heartless, Itachi Uchiha, Sasori of the Red Sands and Orochimaru, are the members you would have knowledge of. There are more, but they are recent shinobi and people you wouldn't be able to recognize."

Shisui whistled in a low tone. "If you are telling me that a mercenary group composed of Kisame Hoshigaki, Itachi Uchiha, Orochimaru, Sasori, and Kakuza – apologies, Kakuzu – _amongst other members_ , then they sound like a serious threat indeed."

When he was at his peak, which, admittedly, was literal _years_ prior, he was classified as S-Rank, one of the rarest classifications one would be honored – or dishonored – with. It didn’t surprise him that Itachi Uchiha, having years to develop, had now also reached S-Rank.

He recognized Kisame – literally, last he checked, having owned the largest bounty _in the world_ at a whooping two hundred _million_ ryō if brought in alive, not counting how much the sword he wielded could be bought for, and if he had to guess, would be around one hundred ryō.

Having slaughtered his entire hunter-nin section, including his former master, and then fleeing the Hidden Mist with entire knowledge about their secrets and inner-workings, it was no doubt that he would be slapped with the highest payment.

Itachi was self-explanatory, even if he was a secret agent.

The others, while he knew less about, were nothing to sneeze at. Sasori of the Red Sands had conquered a kingdom before, just past Sunagakure when the Sand were expanding past their borders to grab more land and political power, and quickly the kingdom was incorporated into their territory, one of the final things really cementing the Hidden Sand as one of the five superpowers in the Elemental Nations.

Orochimaru was also self-explanatory.

Kakuzu the Heartless. He had heard stories about the man as a mere child, about how he would brutally murder his victim and carve their heart out – although for what, nobody could figure out – but regardless, he was nothing to mess with.

And they were only a _few_ members out of the group? He had his work cut out for him, indeed.

He was handed a copy of the manilla folder. "Read about the other members, familiarize yourself, because rest assured, in the upcoming years, they _will_ strike against us. The Leaf is resting on the actions of you, Shisui. You were stronger than Itachi, you used to be one of the fastest ninjas alive. The Leaf needs that Shisui again."

Shisui bowed his head in understanding. "I won't disappoint you, sir."

* * *

The morning dawn broke through the clouds without remorse, resting the rays of sunlight gently on the Earth's surface. The air was rigid, although not painfully so. Resting his eyes slightly upon reaching his seat, Sasuke waited patiently for his companions to arrive.

The past few days had been in his mind heavily. Shisui Uchiha, his brother's former best friend, was alive and- not necessarily _well_ , but he was alive. And the fact that Shisui didn't _immediately_ declare his hatred for Itachi was surprising itself.

Well, from how Itachi described Shisui, and whenever the older Uchiha visited the family, Shisui was a man of compassion; a man of hope and a man with a Heart of Gold. In other words, someone who embodied the Will of Fire both metaphorically and literally.

Jumping past that, it was crazy how everything was being flipped on its head. Naruto, who he never paid _too_ much attention too, was apparently leaps and bounds ahead of him, but he couldn't complain too much, it was the same with him and Sakura.

Perhaps he _was_ too rough on her. She wasn't amazing to be around, sure, but she was far from the worst. Better than Kiba, anyways.

He guessed it wouldn't hurt to at least try.

Speaking of which…

The trudging of ground stirred him out of his endless thoughts, wavering thoughts cast away now.

"Hi."

The sun beat against his face, causing him to frown and move to cover his face. "Sakura."

The pause was brief, but tense.

"How is your tree walking coming along, Sasuke?"

His eye twitched _very_ slightly.

"I can reach the top of any tree."

"And water?" Sakura asked after a moment of thought.

Sasuke merely huffed in reply.

Judging by his lack of reply, Sakura had obviously hit a sore spot. It's not like she tried to hit a sore spot, she simply just wanted to know how he was doing in regards to his training. Her thoughts echoed back to failure, how she failed every time-

"Can you… give me some tips, Sakura?"

 _That_ caused her to pause in her place. "W-what?"

Sasuke, despite his efforts not to, couldn't hide the grimace and the scowl that followed. "I'm not going to ask again, Sakura. Can you give me some tips on how to walk on water?"

"Oh, r-right, sorry. What are you having trouble with the most?"

The conversation continued to ebb and flow between the two, and they didn't even notice the arrival of Naruto, who decided that breaking their conversation wasn't the best idea. He merely started to snooze under a tree on the opposite side of the training ground.

The tree above Sasuke and Sakura shook very slightly at different times, but they chalked it up to either the wild animals living around them, or the crisp breeze that would run through the yard every now and then.

Discussing the theoreticalities of chakra control was something Sasuke had no issue with, sure, but actually applying them in different, real life situations was something he had _glaring_ issues with.

Whether that was in ninjutsu practice, ending up with punching bags or training posts absolutely _scorched_ , or it was training himself in his clan's Sharingan.

Naruto had even _more_ chakra and had more precise control than either him or Sakura! It frustrated him to no ends how it seemed that Naruto could just move past any form of barrier in his training.

A vow was made, whether he voiced this or not to his teammates. Itachi was one of the strongest ninjas to ever come out of Konoha, often compared to legends such as Madara, Izuna, and Kagami Uchiha. He was the ultimate powerhouse. Taijutsu. Ninjutsu. Genjutsu. Kenjutsu. Intelligence. Itachi Uchiha possessed all of it.

And one way or the other, Sasuke would become better. Become stronger. Become strong enough to protect anyone he cared about. Strong enough to live for himself.

Sakura, by this point, had taken a seat right next to Sasuke and was happily chatting away different chakra control exercises she practiced, such as balancing kunai and shuriken in her spare time, and idly walking on her bedroom walls and ceiling while focusing on a different activity or object.

She paused, briefly enough to catch her thoughts, but Sasuke noticed a curious look on her slim face. He opted to wait for her to initiate a different topic.

"Sasuke, do you think you can help me practice some genjutsu some time?"

Pausing, and thinking, Sasuke glanced over at his teammate, noting she was trying her hardest not to seem desperate, breath waiting abated.

And he nodded.

Seeing her sigh of relief, and satisfaction, gave Sasuke a small boost in confidence, and he resumed closing his eyes.

The tree shifted again, swaying back and forth, and Sakura watched as a pair of leaves drifted lazily past them.

"Hello, my cute little Genin, are we ready to train today?"

Naruto opened his eyes and slowly stood up. "Kakashi-sensei, when will we get a real mission?"

As blunt as usual, that one was.

Kakashi raised his hands in mock-surrender and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, yeah, sorry Naruto, pardon me for assuming a team that hasn't even been active for a month isn't ready for a C-rank mission."

Huffing and pouting very slightly, Naruto turned his head in something akin to a bratty behavior. Kakashi chuckled at this lightly.

"But you are in luck, as I just got back from Lord Third's office and after some smooth talking, I secured us a C-Rank mission, at the end of the week. It's not what I originally intended, please believe me, but Kurenai Yūhi was given the mission I originally wanted, outrageously." Kakashi said with a glint in his lone eye.

"Well, what's the mission, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi turned back to the other two Genin. "Well, Sakura, we all are going on an escort mission to Takigakure, to put it plainly. The original mission was an escort to Land of Waves, but like I mentioned, Yūhi already has that one locked."

Kakashi closed his book and clapped his hands together.

"Now, who's ready for endurance training?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone says it, I used "Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze" on PURPOSE. I do not agree with Naruto having "two last names" like a lot of fics tend to do, but my usage of it is very much intentional in relation to how he perceives himself. He will not go by "Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze".


End file.
